


Of Different Waters

by TransientGuest



Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M, Mermaids, Ocean, Vacation, aquarium, crazy fisherman, whale watch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-11
Updated: 2017-11-08
Packaged: 2018-04-20 05:54:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 23,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4776131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TransientGuest/pseuds/TransientGuest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Ronan was thirteen and started giving people electrical shocks whenever he touched them, he asked his mom why it was happening. She immediately answered static electricity. When he tried to explain that he knew it wasn't static she changed her story saying instead that his father used him as a lightning rod during a bad storm and he happened to be hit by a strong bolt.</p><p>And for some reason he believed that story…</p><p>Now… nine years later, he's found he can do more than shock people. He can talk to fish. He thought about asking his mother how something like that was possible, but he doesn't think he's get a straight answer. He's beginning to think she's keeping something from him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Besides the whole giving people shocks thing, Ronan was a pretty average guy. He was neither smart nor simple, tall nor short. He was a little on the skinny side, but that wasn't his fault, _dammit_! He ate like a pig, and still managed to look like a twig. He had dazzling dark blue eyes that he was rather fond of (they were his favorite feature about himself) and strange, unruly hair that he wished was as normal as the rest of him.

The unruliness of his locks actually didn't bother him at all. He was a big fan of the "just out of bed" look and he rocked it. But the color of his hair made him stick out. It was blue. Anywhere from electric blue to a navy so dark it looked black could be found on his head. He often got unwanted attention from people because of the color. Bad attention. People generally thought he was a no good punk, because what kind of _respectable_ person had blue hair. And when he tried to explain that the color was natural, well then he was a punk and a liar.

At the present moment, though, he didn't care what people were saying. Okay, he never really cared _what_ they said to him. He just found it petty and annoying when people talked about him like he wasn't standing RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF THEM. But anyway… Ronan was on his way to the pet store. He was thinking about getting a small pet, maybe a ferret or a tree frog or something like that. Ooh, or maybe one of those snakes that could slither its way up through his nose and out his mouth. He had always wanted one of those.

He looked at the ferrets and was heading for the reptile section when some hidden force compelled him to take a gander at the fish section.

He looked at the cheap fish, feeder fish and goldfish. In terms of spending the least amount of money, fish were certainly the way to go, if they were freshwater. But did he really want a pet that involved such little interaction? He looked at the saltwater fish. They were too high maintenance for him. But they were pretty, and made him think of a certain popular Pixar film.

He went back to the freshwater fish. They were easy to care for. _Maybe I should get a fish for a pet,_ he mused as he watched the feeder fish swimming in their tank. _What a crappy existence_ , he thought as he watched them.

Ronan jumped when an anguished cry broke through his thought process. "Holey Moby Dick, Billy's _dead_!" He looked around trying to figure out where frantic voice came from.

And came up with nothing. No one, but him, reacted to the voice.

 _Great, now I'm hearing voices_. Ronan raked a hand through his hair and looked back at the feeder fish. There he saw a fish slowly floating to the top of the tank.

Dead.

Another fish swam up to the dead one and poked it with its mouth.

"Billy?"

Ronan watched as the fish swam away quickly.

"Eww. He's really dead! I just touched a dead fish!"

Ronan's eyes grew wide. He was starting to think he was crazy. Because he swears the fish were the ones talking.

He shook his head and decided he had just been staring at the little fish too long. So he moved on to some other, hopefully less insanity inducing, fish. And he found himself looking at the goldfish.

There was one in the back of the tank that got his attention right away. It _was_ a goldfish, but it had a pattern similar to a cow.

"Yo, what're _you_ looking at?" Ronan stared disbelievingly at the fish and pointed a shaky finger at himself in question. "Yeah, you, buddy! I know you can hear me," the fish growled. Ronan took a step back from the tank in shock.

And accidentally ran into a creepy sales associate that had been standing right behind him like Lurch. He grabbed onto the man to keep from falling over and accidentally gave him a shock.

"Ouch!" the associate screamed very much like a little girl. Ronan found it amusing since the guy was probably six foot five.

"Uh," Ronan began articulately, "I wanna buy a fish?" He pointed to the tank with the moo cow fish.

Creepy associate immediately went into salesman mode. "Any particular fish you'd like, sir?" he asked with a disgustingly sweet smile on his face.

"Me!" the cow fish practically screeched, doing a back flip.

Ronan pointed to said fish. "That one."

The salesman got the fish out and put him into a plastic bag for the ride home. Ronan picked out a bowl for the fish, some rocks, and a little plastic shrubbery for decoration. And of course, he got fish food.

Then he checked out.

On his way out the door he looked at the fish swimming in the middle of the plastic bag.

"So what's your name?" he asked, trying to make small talk. And then he mentally smacked himself for talking to a fish.

"My name's Fisk. Don't ask why, all I'll say is I lost a bet."

Ronan let out a chuckle.

He got into his car and headed for home. Him and Fisk conversed all the way there.

He decided it had been a good decision to buy the annoyingly spunky fish.


	2. Chapter 2

Ronan clanked out of the car, Fisk and all his supplies in hand, and entered the quaint cape cod style house he lived in with his parents.

"Mom, I'm home," he called.

Ronan immediately went into the family room and found a place for Fisk's bowl. He put it on an end table that was close to a window thinking the fish might enjoy looking out of it from time to time. He looked at the placement of the bowl and then at Fisk who was still in his plastic bag. "What do you think?" he asked motioning to the placement of the bowl.

The fish swam back and forth impatiently. "It's a wonderful spot." Ronan's heart filled with pride when the fish said he liked the spot. "Now get me out of this damn plastic bag," the fish griped.

Ronan sighed.

After he got Fisk situated in his new home he went to find his mom to ask her what she thought about his new recent… ability. And he found her in the kitchen pinned against the fridge, as his father lightly kissed up and down her neck.

"Arg! Dude _seriously_?" Ronan cried. He wanted to gouge his eyes out. Obviously he knew his parents did stuff like that, but he preferred that it was one of those things he knew happened but never _ever_ had to witness. "Get a room!"

His parents quickly broke apart. Rebecca, his mom at least had the decency to look embarrassed as she smoothed out her shirt and quickly left the room. No doubt to go in search of his new pet. His father, however, just grinned, not the least bit sorry for the mental scarring he had just caused his son. "We had a room, sea monkey," his father said with a shrug. "You just must not have seen the _do not disturb_ sign"

"You. Are. Disgusting." Ronan told his father with fake cheerfulness.

His mother cleared her throat from the door and offered a change in subject. "So, Ronan, I thought you were getting a ferret."

"I decided the fish was more interesting." And he wasn't lying. Fisk was definitely the most interesting animal in that store. He had spunk.

"Uh-huh," his mother didn't believe him.

His dad let out a snort, "Unless that thing's talking to you, I fail to see what could be remotely interesting about a _goldfish_."

Ronan's heart jumped into his throat, shocked at how on the mark his dad's offhand comment had been. Should he tell them the truth? They might decide he's crazy, or worse, not believe him.

But… they had taken to the whole electricity thing shockingly well. So this little admittance should go about the same.

Hopefully.

"So, actually, since you brought that up," he began nervously. "What would you say if _hypothetically_ I could talk to fish?"

His dad snorted and his mother smacked him hissing, " _John_!"

His mom opened her mouth to reply. "Well, I'd say," Ronan waited eagerly to hear what she had to say.

From the other room he heard Fisk yell, "She'd say you're an idiot." Yup, that fish was a winner.

"I'd say it's time for us to go on a vacation," she finished cheerfully.

"No, seriously, mom," Ronan sighed. He wanted an answer.

"No, seriously, Ronan," she imitated with that scary mom edge. The one that said _you better quit while I'm ahead because we both know I'm winning this discussion anyway._ "We're going to take a family vacation," she grinned.

John mirrored her enthusiasm, "Pack your bags, Sea Monkey. Tomorrow we're heading for the shore."


	3. Chapter 3

"Well, I'm ready to leave whenever you are, Rebecca," Ronan's dad called to his wife.

"Hurry up Ronan or we're gonna be late," Rebecca hissed at the 22 year old. Honestly, that child was late for everything.

Ronan wanted to reply that he saw absolutely no reason to wake up at the ass-crack of dawn to go to the beach. It's not like it was going anywhere anytime soon.

But he had to admit, he really _did_ want to get there. After all, the beach was his favorite place in the world. Even though his family never went in the ocean It was nice. Peaceful. And he had a nice chlorinated hotel pool at his disposal, which was amazing considering water was like a second home to him.

Even so, Every year Ronan longed to swim in the salty water of the ocean. He longed to let the cool water caress his skin gently as he explored the underwater coast. But he could never work up the courage to defy his parents. It was one of the only rules they had really been strict upon while he was growing up. No salt water. Apparently he had some kind of bad allergy to it.

But maybe this would be the year he'd swim in the ocean, if only for a little, allergies be damned.

"Coming mother," Ronan bellowed walking out the door with Fisk.

" _No Ronan_..." Rebecca warned, giving that look only a mom could give. The one where he knew he'd be in trouble if he went against her.

"What?" he smiled innocently.

"Absolutely _not_. John make him put it back," she pouted to her husband.

"Oh, come on Dad," Ronan practically pleaded, turning toward the man, "it's not like Fisk is going to hurt anyone."

John shrugged, and received a hearty slap from Rebecca. " _Ow_ , what was that for?"

"You're the father. Put your foot down. We're not taking a _fish_ on our family vacation!"

Two hours later they arrived at their hotel. They started unpacking the car. Ronan grasping Fisk's travel bowl tightly.

"I can't believe we have the fish on our family vacation," Rebecca said gloomily.

"Fisk says he's hurt that after one day, three hours and seventeen minutes you don't consider him part of the family," Ronan told his mom after hearing his fish gripe about it.

"Well you can tell _Fisk_ that unless he cans it, he's gonna end up _in_ a can," she grumbled.

Ronan just walked to the room chuckling softly. Room 519.

 _I don't see what's so funny. She wants to_ kill _me._ Fisk cried frantically swimming back and forth in his small fish bowl.

"No she doesn't really believe that I can understand you." _Even though I pretty much told her that_ , he added silently. "Plus I wouldn't let her get rid of my best sea water friend _that_ easily." Ronan reassured his fish.

When Ronan arrived at the room he did a quick cursory glance of his surroundings. Yup. It was the standard hotel room. Two beds. A dresser to put clothes in, that Ronan would never use (he kept his in his suit case) a TV on top of the dresser. Sparse lighting, a chair and small table. Some non descript painting, a spackled ceiling and an end table in between the beds with the standard Bible and, of course, a bathroom.

He went to put Fisk down when he heard some sounds of struggling coming from the door.

And there was John. He was juggling four very large bags. "Hey sea monkey, how 'bout giving me a- _ah_...

_Crash..._

_Bam..._

_Bang..._

_Thunk..._

" _Ow._ "

John was now laying in the most awkward position on the hotel floor. Suitcases and clothing (one of the cases opened) were strewn about, a good deal of which were on top of him.

"Are you alright?" Ronan asked not even bothering to hide his laughter.

"If I said 'no' would you stop laughing?" he answered flatly, already getting up and putting the spilled contents away.

Ronan turned around and placed Fisk's bowl down on the dresser.

"This spot okay boy?" After asking the question Ronan watched his fish intently as if waiting for an answer. He then nodded and picked up the fish bowl. John watched as his son talked to the fish. Sometimes he truly believed Ronan could talk to them. Right now was one of those times. After asking the question Ronan gazed at his fish intently, nodded as if he agreed with something the fish had said and picked up the fishbowl.

"The window it is," Ronan said to the fish as he set the bowl down on the table that was positioned in front of their window. The window had a breathtaking view of the… parking lot. Ocean views were expensive, and in Ronan's case, very distracting. He'd often find himself lost in the waves. Just staring at them in wonder.

"Hey Ronan, thanks for the help," Rebecca's sarcastic remarks were heard over an enormous pile of pillows and beach towels.

"Ok come on mom, I helped," he tried to convince her by taking the pile of stuff off of her hands. "I even left the door open for you," he added in the most charming voice he could muster.

"Oh shut up and put those away," Rebecca huffed, trying to hide her grin rather unsuccessfully.

An hour later when all of their belongings were carefully stashed away Ronan asked the question. " _So_... what're we doing now?"

"Well your father and I plan to relax. You can go have fun. Just make sure you let us know if you're coming back for dinner," Rebecca smiled.

"Alright then. I'm gonna go swimming." He heard the sharp intake of breath from both of his parents. _Oh for the love of-_ "In the _pool_ ," his tone clearly screamed duh.

Geeze, there wasn't any way he was going in saltwater if it hurt him. Although, he really wanted to test that theory…

Still, Ronan changed into his swim trunks, grabbed a big fluffy beach towel and scuttled away from the room as fast as possible. He walked to the main lobby of the hotel and began following the signs to the pool.

There it was. He saw it through the window. It was an outdoor pool of a fairly decent size. Fenced in, no doubt to keep the beach goers out.

And there behind the cheap wrought fence was the most beautiful, glorious sight Ronan had ever laid eyes on. The ocean. He had never been this close to it before... and if he went outside, he'd be even closer.

He quickly made his way out the door that lead to the pool and sat down in one of the beach chairs. Ronan gave a content sigh. He could smell it from here. The gentle salt smell. The waves sounded soft and soothing, as if singing a lullaby he had long since forgotten.

It was as if those waves put Ronan into a dreamlike trance. He felt lethargic. His eyes grew heavy. Before he knew it, he was asleep.

 _He was underwater. And he had a tail. What was that he heard? Singing. Yes it had to be singing. The most beautiful voice. Sounded so familiar. Embraced in warmth. Who was this person? they sounded so familiar. He felt protected._ Loved _even._

 _Whoever was holding him cared for him deeply. He stopped singing and looked at the young boy in his arms, a wild desperate look in his eyes. He began to speak to Ronan in a strange language. A language Ronan was shocked to find out he understood. "_ Chromis-Rasha," _well, he understood_ most _of it, " you must leave this place. If they find you, you won't be able to swim and play anymore," he kissed Ronan on the forehead. He could tell this strong man was crying the tears glistened like diamonds even underwater. "I will save your life by making you miserable. You will hate me one day for this, I'm sure, but it's the only way I know to save you. To make sure you can come back here someday, I will send you up there," he pointed upwards to the surface world._

 _"_ Gamara, nra _!" the young Ronan cried, "Don't send me away!"_

 _"I_ have _to," his father,_ birth _father cried._

_"Don't you love me?"_

_His father made a strangled noise halfway between a choke and a sob. "Of course I love you. That is why I must do this," he said kissing his son's head once again._

_He placed his hand gently on Ronan's head and worked his magic on him. It would make him a land walker until he was ready to mature as one of them. It would keep him safe._

_His beautiful blue tail disappeared becoming a pair of scraggly looking things he thought_ might _be called legs._ Honestly, _how were they supposed to swim with_ those _?_

_The spell complete, he focused his forlorn but loving gaze upon his son and ascended to the surface world. Clutching the child to his breast, he swam swiftly to the shore. He placed his little Ronan in the shallow waves, not able to go any farther out of the water. He didn't have enough energy to cast another land walking spell. All his energy had gone into his son. And he still had to place another spell on his son._

_A spell to forget._

_A spell that left Ronan with only his name. He quickly cast the spell on his son. Ronan stared at with question in those big blue orbs._ "Etu ra maru _?" Who are you._

 _The words cut like a knife. Sure, that's what the spell was supposed to happen, what_ needed _to happen, but it still hurt. It was better for Ronan this way, safer, if he remembered nothing of his life under the waves. To grow up ignorant to what he was, to_ who _he was. If he didn't remember he could live a normal carefree life._

_He answered his son's question, "Nobody important. Your family will come and get you soon." Ronan watched as the sad looking man turned and left before he could ask any more of him._

_With tears in his eyes and a heavy heart Ronan's father swam to sea, stopping to say one last goodbye._

_"Seschbarta ma lio, ma sol."_

_He hoped someday his son might return to the sea._

Ronan awoke with an intense feeling of longing... for home. Tears blurred his vision and he hastily wiped them away. That must have been an intense dream for him to react that way, but he couldn't remember any of it.

All he had left were the feelings.

He felt safe, protected, _loved_.

And most of all, he felt like he had come home after being gone for an extremely long period of time.

He sighed. Maybe in time he'd remember the dream.

The sky was dark. It was well past time for him to be heading back to the room. He stood up and picked up his towel. _Maybe tomorrow I'll actually go swimming_.

He was opening the door to his room, quietly as to not wake his parents, when he heard a whisper.

_Ronan, ceva ow mo…_

Well, that was weird. He decided to ignore it and went into his room, locking the door behind him. Ronan did his best to crawl into his shoddy double bed without waking his parents and was swiftly met by sleep.

_Someone was calling him. A strong but wispy voice, beckoning him closer._

Ronan, ceva ou mo...

_The feelings surrounding him. They were the same as earlier. Safe. Protected. Loved._

Ronan, ceva ou mo...

_The voice sounded familiar, but Ronan was sure he had never heard it before in his life._

Ronan, ceva ow mo…

_He could see the figure reaching out to him. But couldn't quite make out any details of the figure. . A bright light behind it blocked out any chance Ronan had of getting a better look. Silhouetting everything in front of it._

Ronan, ceva ou mo...

_What was it even saying? Ronan had never heard a language quite like it._

Ronan, ceva ou mo…

_Okay now the voice was getting kind of annoying._

Ronan, ceva ou mo...

_Was that all it could say?_

Ronan, ceva ou mo...

 _"Will you...  
_ __  
Shut up!" Ronan yelled the last word, waking up with a start. His parents were both staring at him wide eyed from the doorway to the kitchen.

"Bad dream?" his father asked.

"Dunno, can't remember," Ronan shrugged it off, as no big deal, fumbling out of bed.

"So Ronan, what time did you end up getting back last night?" Rebecca asked him slyly.

"I'm not sure."

"Go anywhere _exciting_?" she pried.

"Nope, just the pool."

"You spent all that time at the pool?" She didn't believe him. He was gone for _hours_.

"Yeah," Ronan ran a hand through his hair, a sheepish grin on his handsome features, "I fell asleep. Didn't even get to swim."

His dad snorted. "So, what's on your agenda for today, sea monkey?"

"Nothing why?" Ronan answered.

"I thought maybe the three of us could go to the aquarium," John said with a big smile.

An identical smile appeared on his face and he quickly agreed that they should indeed spend the day there. Ronan would never pass up the opportunity to go to that place.

He went about his morning ritual and was ready to go in seven minutes. Six minutes and forty-nine seconds, according to Fisk. Then they all piled into the car and were off to Ronan's second favorite place on earth.


	4. Chapter 4

It took Ronan about half the drive to realize he would be able to talk to the fish in the aquarium. And then he _really_ couldn't wait to get there. As soon as the car was parked, Ronan bolted toward the front entrance of the building, not even bothering to wait for his parents. They'd catch up… or not. At that moment it didn't really matter to him. There were so many fish to talk to and so little time.

He bought his ticket and headed into the aquarium stopping in front of the directory. _Hmm, where should I go fist?_ He felt just like a kid in a candy store, and had to stop himself from giggling uncontrollably. _Oh great, I really_ am _acting like a kid in a candy store. Next I'll start drooling._ He silently contemplated on how people would react to a twenty-something year old man drooling and giggling while talking to fish.

As soon as the rather disturbing mental image formed, Ronan tried to shove it in the back closet of his mind. And hopefully he'd never see it again. Ever…

After looking at the directory for way longer than what was considered kosher Ronan decided to head to the piranhas first. Those guys cracked him up when he _couldn't_ understand them.

He arrived at the tank. It was a fairly decent size and had maybe ten of the flesh eating fish. "Hey guys," Ronan greeted jovially, smiling from ear to ear.

The result was instantaneous. The fish who had been swimming peacefully all froze and became still as rocks. Slowly they turned to stare at Ronan. "Yeah, I'm talking to you," he grinned at how perplexed they looked.

In the blink of an eye they were practically glued to the glass, all trying to talk to him at the same time.

_Wow, you talk!_

_Say something else!_

_You can understand us._

"Yes," Ronan said trying his hardest not to laugh.

They all got very still again, staring at him with their silver, unblinking fishy eyes.

 _That is so…_ wait for it _…Cool_! They all started jumping around in a very non-piranha-like way.

_You're awesome!_

Ronan laughed out loud at that and touched the glass with his hand. He jumped back when he emitted one of his shocks.

 _Ooh_ … The piranhas said in unison. They began to talk excitedly to themselves.

 _Hey guys,_ a particularly old piranha said quietly. No one heard him. He gave Ronan an annoyed look and Ronan shrugged.

The old piranha sighed and hollered _Idiots!_ So loud it made Ronan wince. All the other fish grew quiet. _I just wanted to remind you that we're piranhas. And we've just been fed._

They all darted away quickly, fighting over their meal. All but the old fish. _Sorry,_ Rasha _, they get a little too excited sometimes_ , the old fish apologized.

"That's okay… Wait, how did you know that name? My fish calls me that." Ronan asked perplexed.

 _That's what we all call your family._ The fish explained.

That didn't really help much. "Who, me Rebecca and John?" Ronan asked, beyond confused.

_No, not the people who raised you. Your birth family._

Ronan couldn't figure out how the fish knew how he was adopted. He asked and the old piranha explained. _They, the humans, smell like land._ You _, Rasha, smell like us._

 _Okay…_ The fish was obviously loopy. Ronan knew when people got older they sometimes said some strange things. Old fish were apparently the same.

Ronan decided it was time for a change of subject. "So what's your name?"

 _Hannibal_ , the fish answered.

"Oh, that's an interesting name," Ronan said attempting to make small talk. His mind immediately taking him to the only Hannibal he knew of: Hannibal Lector.

 _You think?_ The fish asked skeptically. _I think is just goes to show how uncreative the two-leggeds are._

"Oh really, and why's that?" Ronan challenged.

 _Well you see,_ the piranha explained, smiling a toothy grin, _there used to be twelve of us._ And with that Hannibal swam away to join the others.

"Oh, well… that's just wrong," Ronan thought before learning the piranhas to their meal.

Next it was time for close encounters with monsters of the deep. Which was just a fancy way of saying, "You can pet stingrays at our aquarium." Ronan maneuvered through the aquarium in the direction he thought the rays were. Sure enough, he found them. And with so many little kids hovering around the petting area, it wasn't that difficult to find.

The exhibit was fairly large. It was a two foot high cement entrapment filled with a little over a foot and a half of water. On one end of the exhibit there was an escape for the rays that lead to a deep tank-like section where the rays could swim out of the reach of grabby little hands.

There was no empty space anywhere around the exhibit, so Ronan waited patiently for an available space. "Ew," a kid squealed, after touching one of the rays. Ronan rolled his eyes. "Ew," wasn't exactly a great word to use to describe a ray.

The ray had some objections too. _Marty, did you hear what that two-legged said about me?_ The offended ray bellowed. Then he yelled to the whole tank of rays. _Don't let her pet you. She's… She's…_ he seemed to not know what exactly to say about her. _She's just plain mean!_ He huffed.

Ronan saw the ray glide down into the deep tank section, no doubt to sulk away from the grubby hands of the children.

The rays must have listened to their offended brother because a few minutes later the kid began to whine. No rays had come to her since she insulted that one. "Daddy," she whined, "this is boring. None of them are coming near me. Let's go somewhere else." She grabbed her father's hand and proceeded to drag him away.

 _Yes, an opening_. Ronan smiled as he walked up to the cement and kneeled by the edge, waiting for a ray to stop and talk.

He had a good spot around the enclosure too. His was right before the shallow water expanded and became the deep tank. The exhibit had rays and some smaller species of sharks but only the rays ever came up to get stroked. The sharks preferred the deeper water.

 _Hey, Quame, the little tart's gone_ , a smaller stingray yelled to the sulking fish.

 _Really, Marty?_ He sounded hopeful.

_Yup, she's gone. And there's something interesting in her spot. Why don't you come back up here?_

_Okay._

Ronan watched as the large ray came up from the depths of the tank. He reached down to touch the ray, figuring the little exposure to salt water couldn't aggravate him too much.

 _Ooh, he is interesting_ , Quame agreed, as he swam over to Ronan.

Ronan touched the large ray. It was amazing. So soft and smooth. "You're amazing," he told it quietly.

 _Much better than 'ew', eh?_ Marty joked with his friend. Ronan leaned over the cement more to get a better angle for petting.

_Wham!_

Something hit him hard in the back. And next thing he knew, he was in the water.

 _Shit!_ This was definitely not good. He tried to stand up and get out of the tank but as he was foundering to his feet a ray barreled into him at an alarming speed, sending him slipping into the deep section.

This situation normally wouldn't be a problem, Ronan was a great swimmer, but there was a strong downward current from the constant swimming of the rays and sharks and it pulled him down.

"Ronan!" he heard his mom scream.

" _Calo!_ " He yelped before he was completely pulled under.

Down.

Ronan let out a gasp. _Shit_ … he was completely submerged in salt water. This was definitely not good. But something deep inside of him also told him he should be more upset about this. He felt calm, at ease.

He opened his eyes and everything was blurry.

And burned!

He hissed and blinked. When he opened his eyes again he could see clearly and his eyes no longer burned. _Strange_ …

Ronan realized that even though he didn't feel like he was in any sort of danger, it might be good to get out of the exhibit. He tried to swim, but the current was too oppressive. He had to figure out how to get the fish to stop swimming in their mindless whirlpool pattern.

" _Kita, murata!_ " he yelled at the fish letting off little annoyed sparks.

And just like that, they all stopped and swam towards him in a restrained frenzy.

 _Rasha, Rasha!_ They cried.

 _Are you okay?_ The large ray, Quame, cried.

"Yeah, I'm… fine," Ronan told Quame like it was no big deal.

And he realized he really was fine.

Completely fine. Nothing was wrong with him. Okay, so maybe there was actually something wrong with him. His lungs weren't ready to burst. It was weird. He thought he was in the tank for quite a while but it couldn't have been that long or he'd feel his lungs crying for oxygen.

And if he was being completely honest with himself, he felt more alive sitting in the bottom of the tank surrounded by fish and water than he ever had anywhere else in his life. The wonderful salty water felt so much better than any pool water. It felt like home. He wanted to stay submerged in it forever.

 _Rasha, the strange two-leggeds came for you,_ Quame said fidgeting at how close the humans were getting to him. Message delivered, he swam away from the scary intruders fast.

Ronan saw the two people in wetsuits barreling toward him at an alarmingly fast pace.

 _Geez, what's their hurry? It's not like I'm drowning or anything._ He also had the sinking suspicion that he would have been able to swim out himself, now that the rays stopped swimming with the whirlpool they created. He had to admit, he was a little worried by the lack of burning in his lungs. The lack of needing air. He wasn't breathing through his nose, in any case.

The men in wetsuits seemed shocked to see Ronan moving and conscious, but grabbed him and quickly hauled him to the surface.

When he got to the surface the first thing he focused on was his parents. His mom was standing there sobbing, while John was holding her, trying to stay strong for his wife.

The two suited men got him onto the cement outside the tank. Ronan felt weak. Finally felt like he was running short of breath. He inhaled deeply.

And choked.

He gasped for breath.

The air felt wrong. It hurt.

Why couldn't he breathe?

He was like a… well, frankly, like a fish out of water.

He fell, gasping, to the ground. The sides of his neck were burning.

"Ronan, what's wrong?" his mom cried.

He continued to gasp. God, it hurt.

Was this what drowning felt like?

The pain on the side of his neck disappeared and then he was coughing up a whole bunch of water as air forced its way into his lungs, scorching his insides alive.

He trembled and passed out.


	5. Chapter 5

"Shit, Becca," John sighed, raking a hand through his hair, "I knew this would happen one day." His eyes locked on the resting form of their son. All their careful avoidance of salt water ruined by an aquarium.

"God," he exhaled, "that was the worst thing I've ever experienced. I really thought… thought he was gonna…" John swallowed thickly unable to finish his thought. For a second he really thought Ronan would die down there; that the man who had told them those unbelievable things about their son had been wrong and he'd be gone. But…

Ronan was fine.

He was under the water for a good twenty minutes with absolutely no ill effects.

Rebecca choked on a sob. 'I feel like we're gonna lose him anyway."

Her husband gave her a quizzical look. "How so?" He opened his arms to embrace her and smiled softly when she clung to him grateful for his comfort.

"Well, you remember how I found him? What that man said and how we've never let him near the ocean because of that?" John nodded. How could he forget?

"Now that he's had a taste of it, I don't think he'll want to stay on land. I don't think he'll be _able_ to stay on land. I mean he had _gills_ for Christ's sake! He's _changing_."

John let the heavy words sink in before asking, "What are you saying exactly?"

She looked him straight in the eyes, "I'm saying that I don't think Ronan is coming home with us at the end of this vacation." She started sobbing and buried her head into John's shoulder. He just rocked her as she cried, trying to remain strong for the both of them.

He had known this day would come, but he had hoped it wouldn't come so soon. He couldn't imagine life without his son.

Losing his little Sea Monkey.

He just hoped Rebecca was wrong about her premonition, even as she feared she was right. He didn't want to lose his son.


	6. Chapter 6

 

Ronan woke with a start, gasping for air. It hurt so much to breathe. What had happened? Felt like he wasn't getting enough air.

And then he remembered: the aquarium.

He looked around the room. The hotel room. Parents must have brought him back, but he was alone. The probably stepped out of the room to get something to eat. But they probably didn't go too far because of him being passed out in bed. They were worrywarts after all.

The barest of whispers. _Ronan, ceva ow mo…_

He shot out of bed. "Fisk?" Ronan called out to his fishy friend uncertainly. It hadn't sounded like him, but who else could it be? "was that you."

"Not me _Rasha,_ it was _her_ ," the fish answered cryptically.

"Who?"

" _Ruhn Oceana,_ " the fish whispered in a hushed voice.

 _Ronan, ceva ow mo…_ It said again.

Suddenly Ronan didn't want to stay in the room another minute. He had to get to the voice.

He looked around for something to use to write a note on for his parents. He wanted to let them know he was alright and would be back later.

_Ronan, ceva ow mo…._

He started breathing faster. He needed to get to that voice _now_. But… he still hadn't written his note.

_Ronan, ceva ow mo…._

Fuck it, he'd explain himself when he got back.

He all but flew out of the room and before he knew it he was standing on the sandy beach, watching the undulating waves. A foreign phrase ran through his head, _Ruhn Oceana,_ that's what Fisk has said was calling to him. And as he looked out over the ocean he knew it was _Ruhn Oceana_ and _it_ had called him.

He really wanted to go in there. And, hey, he guessed he wouldn't die from touching the salt water if twenty minutes hadn't done any lasting damage to him. But… It had hurt so much coming back up onto the land. Maybe he'd just watch it for a little bit. The waves looked so peaceful going in and out, in and out…

"You can stare at it all you want, but it's never gonna do anything different," a cheeky voice spoke from right in front of Ronan.

He looked around for the person and found them relaxing in the water, a smirk on their face as they watched Ronan watching the waves.

Ronan socked in a breath as he took in this guy's appearance. He was really tan, sun kissed skin, no doubt from being on the beach all day. His hair was a light, seemingly natural, blonde color. And his eyes, oh God, those eyes. They were a beautiful gold that almost seemed to glow. Ronan had seen his fair share of attractive men, and this guy, he definitely could have cracked Ronan's top ten.

"Oh no, now you're staring at me like you were the water," the man gave Ronan an easy smile that Ronan instantly found himself returning, even as his face heated with embarrassment. He had never been caught ogling a guy before. Usually he was more secretive about his ogling and, he licked his lips, drooling.

"Why don't you come in the water, beautiful," the man suggested.

"I don't have a swim suit," Ronan regretted rushing to the ocean so quickly. If he would have know there was gonna be a hot guy down there that called him beautiful and invited him to swim and… well, he would have taken the time to change into his trunks. And he could be swimming with that Adonis right now.

"Neither do I," the guy purred back with absolutely no hint of shame.

 _Well, if you put it_ that _way,_ Ronan shrugged. Hell yeah, did he want to go swimming with some naked hot guy he hadn't even been introduced to properly. There might never be a chance like this again. He shrugged off his shirt and slowly made his way to the water's edge. He wasn't quite bold enough to swim naked.

Ronan felt the gentle caress of the water on his feet. It was cold and pleasant. He only realized just how far this guy was from shore when he had to actually swim to reach the guy.

The man gave him a long appreciative look. "You're even more beautiful up close." He brushed a hand through Ronan's hair marveling at the color. He hadn't thought humans could have color like that in their hair. It was so blue. "What's your name, beautiful?" the man asked, his voice low with desire.

"Ronan."

"Mine's Tiburon."

There was a flash of lightning overhead followed closely by thunder.

" _Neptune's balls_ ," Tiburon swore under his breath. Just when things were getting interesting, the skies were not on his side today. He reigned in his disappointment and looked at the beautiful human who had swam out to see him. "It appears it's time to get out of the water," he pointed to the rapidly darkening sky. Ronan shook his head in agreement as a particularly loud bolt lit up the sky.

He gave one last glance at Tiburon and started making his way back to shore. "Bye," Ronan said shyly.

"See you later, Ronan," Tiburon called after him.

Ronan grabbed his shirt and made his way back up to the hotel room.

He got about half way there when his arm itched. So he scratched it. But, it felt strange. His skin felt coarse, similar to a very severe case of dry skin. He looked down at his arm and almost screamed in surprise.

There were… "Holey _shit_ ," well, there were what looked like scales on his arm, bright blue and glistening, from the outside of his wrist almost up to his elbow.

It was on both arms. He continued to scratch them. They were so _itchy_. And, _fuck_ , they were _blue_.

What was happening to him?

First he breathes water.

No, wait. First he started shocking people. Then he started talking to fish. _Then_ , he breathed water and _now_ , now he has scales on his arms.

Geeze, it was like he was turning into a fish.

Oh God, what if he was?

 _Jesus, these things itch._ And then a truly frightening thought crossed his mind. How was he going to explain them to his parents?

He started to worry. There was no way to play of the sudden appearance of bright blue scaled. He was standing outside the room, too afraid to go in and let them see his arms. He just stood in the hallway staring at his strange appendages.

And then, right before his eyes, the scales, in all their freakiness, started to disappear. Ronan's arms slowly started to return to normal and he sighed in relief before entering the room to explain himself to his parents.

 

* * *

 

Tiburon glided through the palace like a love struck fool. That boy, Ronan, had been so unlike anyone he'd ever met.

They had barely spent any time together and already he felt abnormally fond of the boy. He was just so beautiful and sweet. And the delectable shade his face changed when Tiburon had teased him reminded Tiburon of the pinkest starfish he had ever seen.

He was off in his own little world, wandering through the halls, when, as luck would have it, he ran into someone. "Shit! Sorry," Tiburon apologized.

"That's quite alright, Tiburon," a regal voice answered. _Neptune's balls,_ he just had to run into the king.

"Sorry, your majesty," he muttered adverting his gaze.

"It's really okay Tiburon. I can see your mind was on someone else." Tiburon's face pinkened. Why was the king so damn _perceptive_?

"Ahh, so it _is_ someone. Who's the lucky mer that's managed to catch your eye?" the king asked a twinkle in his dark blue eyes.

"Not a mer," Tiburon mumbled crossing his arms stubbornly.

"Not a mer?"

"No," he decided he might as well tell the king. Maybe then he'd continue on with his kingly duties and let Tiburon get back to his fantasies. "A human. A beautiful human with deep blue eyes and stunning blue hair."

The king gave Tiburon a sharp look, "Blue hair?"

"Yes?"

Tiburon might not think it weird to see a human with blue hair, but the king knew blue haired humans didn't exist outside of a dye job. He had been to the surface world often enough when he was captain of the guards, but when his father had died he had to take the man's place as king, giving up the position that allowed him the freedom to go to the strange world above the water. Now Tiburon was captain, and boy did he have a lot to learn.

But this blue haired human. Maybe… Could it be… It was painful to think about it. He had long since given up on finding the boy but… His son would be a few summers younger than Tiburon. Maybe…

He couldn't bring himself to ask Tiburon how old the boy appeared.

Instead he asked, "What is his name?"

"Ronan," Tiburon answered a dreamy look on his face.

"I see," the king replied before swimming away. That had been the name he gave his son. _Could it be you, Chromis Rasha?_


	7. Chapter 7

"Mom," Ronan leaned near her ear to whisper, "are you sure this is legit?"

And the comforting reply of, "Uhhh," really helped to validate hiss trepidation with the whole situation.

It was currently 7pm and they were out into the middle of the ocean on the sketchiest fishing boat Ronan had ever seen. Apparently the boat doubled as a whale watch tour… thing during tourist season. The other eight passengers and Ronan and his mom had paid to ride on this disgusting boat at the promise of seeing some ocean mammals.

It had been a good price and the fisherman who was captaining the ship seemed to be nice, and maybe just a little bit crazy. Maybe Ronan should have sat this one out with his dad…

He looked at the motley crew assembled on the boat.

There was a family of four. The typical cookie cutter family, complete with a well-mannered little girl and a rambunctious boy whose mother hissed, " _Jacob_ ," every time he got too close to the side of the boat. Next was an elderly couple who seemed to be very excited to be on this boat. Then two girls, maybe in their mid twenties. Ronan had wrongly assumed them to be friends until he was corrected when one shoved her tongue down the other's throat. So… date then.

And then there was the captain of the boat. He was dressed warmly, which Ronan had to admit, seemed to be a smart move. There was a cold breeze every once in a while that had him shivering. The man even had a cap pulled over his scraggly scarecrow hair.

There was a splash.

Ronan jumped and looked over the side of the boat. Practically right next to it was a group of…

"Porpoises!" the captain yelled. "Starboard side!" Everyone on the boat hurried to the right of the boat to look at the animals.

"Those are harbor porpoises, _Phocoena phocoen,"_ the old man explained to his wife. "It's really perplexing that they're here. Usually they stay to shallow water and are quite shy. But look at that one, it's actually looking up at us. That's the most social porpoise I've ever seen!"

Ronan's mom stared at the man, mouth opened wide in disbelief. How did he know so much about porpoises? His wife gave her a tight smile and explained, "He's a marine biologist."

Ronan looked down at the three porpoises swimming alongside the boat. "Hey!" one of them greeted, looking at Ronan. "Why're you up there?"

"Yeah," another one said. "You smell like us. You should be in here

"Ronan just shook his head and mouthed the word no to the group.

"Well suit yourself," they chimed before swimming off.

There was nothing to be seen for around fifteen minutes.

Ronan leaned against the side of the boat and let the sight, sounds and smell of the ocean surround him. He felt at peace, like for the first time in days he was truly safe. He wanted to freeze this moment in time and stay out on the water forever. The only thing that could possibly make this trip better would be actually getting to swim out in the ocean, way out here where you could see nothing but water and sky.

"Humpback whale, starboard side!" And just like that everyone crammed together on the right side of the boat again.

 _"Megaptera novaeangliae,"_ the old man whispered to his wife.

The whale popped his head above the water and his gaze zeroed in on Ronan. "Well, I'll be damned, those porpoises weren't lying. You _do_ smell like us. Sure you don't want to come in?" The whale asked slapping the water with his pectoral fin. Ronan shook his head. God knows he wanted to. Wanted to just jump in the water and swim away, but, he belonged on the land. He was human. A human in love with the sea, but still human, not a whale or a porpoise.

"Alright. But you really don't know what you're missing." The whale swam off.

Ronan watched the whale swim away, until he couldn't see it anymore. Then he saw it. About 100 yards away from the boat. That whale was breeching. The captain was whooping for joy, while the old man exclaimed excitedly, "He's putting on a show!" Everybody on board oohed and ahhed as the whale gracefully launched out of the water and made a gentle arc with his body. He flopped back down and Ronan grasped the side of the boat as the waves from the ferocious splash reached them.

The whale swam back up to the side of the boat.

"That was amazing!" Ronan yelled to it.

"You're welcome," the whale said smuggle before swimming away for good this time.

Ronan was once again watching the whale swim away when he glanced at the wheel of the boat to see no one steering the ship. He looked around for the captain and found the man standing very close to him, muttering under his breath, while staring out at the sea. "Never see this much activity… Not normal." He looked around the water, searching for something. "Has to be one of _them_ around."

"I'm sorry," Ronan interrupted the captain's mumblings, "what has to be around here?" He really wanted to know. If there was another animal out there he didn't want to miss a chance to see it.

"Huh?" the captain grunted, his steely gaze refocusing on Ronan.

"You said there 'has to be one of _them_ around.' What's 'them'?" Ronan asked again.

"Oh," the man said simply, "A mer. There has to be a mer somewhere near here."

And this is where Ronan's mom joined the conversation. "A mer? What's that. I've never heard of one of those."

"What's that? _What's that_?" the captain asked incredulously , effectively getting everyone on the boat to quiet down and pay attention to him. "Only the most mystifying being in the ocean. They're intelligent and absolutely beautiful."

" _Homo Syreni_ ," the old man whispered to his wife. Ronan wondered if she got off on listening to her husband speak the dead language… and then quickly banished the thought from his mind.

"And they're called mers?" the little girl asked, looking up at the captain with big brown eyes.

"Yeas they are, princess," the man growled. "But you might know them better as mermaids.'

A few people on board gave a nervous chuckle. Was this guy serious?

_Mermaids?_

There was no such thing.

"Mermaids aren't real," the girl's brother bit out.

"Oh, and how would _you_ know?" the captain challenged. "You're what? Seven years old?"

" _Eight_!" the kid huffed.

"Ooh, _eight_. And how does a bog ol' eight year old like yourself know that mers aren't real?" the captain mocked.

"My daddy told me!"

"Well kid, I'm telling you now, they're real. And I've seen one! He was beautiful."

" _He_? Guys can't be beautiful."

"Yes they can. And he was. He had long blue hair decorated with shells and seaweed to keep It out of his face. Pale-as-the moon skin and his tail," the man's voice developed an almost dreamy quality, "I've never seen that color blue on anything else on Earth. His whole body seemed to shine white and blue. There were dustings of scales on his arms and back too. He's the most beautiful being I have ever seen," the man gazed off into the expansive sea lost in his memories.

After a few minutes of them just being rocked by the waves the captain cleared his throat. "Well, it's about time to head back to shore."

He resumed his position at the wheel and started the engine back up. Then he steered them in the direction of the docks.

It was on the way back that Ronan saw a group of dolphins off in the distance.

"Look, Mom! Dolphins!" the little boy shouted excitedly jumping up on the second rung of the railing and pointing at the creatures.

"Jacob, get down from there, you're gonna fall," his mother scolded.

There was a sudden lurch of the boat, and Jacob fell into the water. Ronan looked over the side of the boat. There was no sign of the kid.

That's not good.

He had to resurface soon, right?

"Oh, my god, Jacob!" the mom screeched. "He can't swim!"


	8. Chapter 8

_Of course he can't_ , Ronan thought angrily. And the boy hadn't been wearing one of the life vests the captain had so nicely provided for his passengers because, "it smelled." Hell, even Ronan was wearing one, and he obviously had no problem at all with swimming, or the ocean, or swimming _in_ the ocean.

Ronan looked around at everyone else on the boat. They were doing absolutely nothing to save this kid. The family, rightly so, was panicking, inconsolable crying was coming from the mother (who let her child that couldn't swim ride the boat without the stinking life jacket) and just about everyone else was staring off into the water, a look of absolute horror on their faces. Probably thinking they had just seen a boy die. Well, it they continued to do nothing, he just might. Ronan sighed, his mind made up and took off his life vest, throwing it roughly into his mom's arms. Then he kicked off his shoes and socks.

"Ronan, what are you…"

He thought about it for a few seconds before pulling off his jeans, they would be extremely heavy once they became drenched in water and he didn't need them slowing him down. Then, he climbed to the second rung on the boat's railing, just where Jacob had been, and turned to face the slack jawed expressions of everyone on the boat. He quickly pulled off his shirt and threw it on the floor with the rest of his discarded clothing.

Giving a steely look to everyone on board he finally answered his mom's trailed off question, "Well, _somebody_ has to save him." And with that Ronan jumped into the frigid water after Jacob.

 

* * *

 

Rebecca was a wreck. She stood on the boat nervously peering over the side, looking for any sign of her son. She bit her nails. He had to come up soon. He had been underwater too long. She looked at her watch. 15 minutes.

Way too long. For a normal person.

It was the aquarium all over again except this time John wasn't there to comfort her. And while she knew Ronan was not gonna drown, she was worried about what else could happen to him below the waves.

The fisherman wasn't helping matters either. He was muttering absolutely _awful_ things about her son.

"No way they're still alive," and. "Too cold."

Rebecca saw what looked like a shark's tail about 50 feet from the boat. _Oh, God. That better stay away from him_. She knew, generally sharks stayed away from humans, but… she didn't know if they'd stay away from _Ronan_. "Shit," she whispered in fear, watching the shark swim swiftly in the distance.

She heard a nearby splash and something slapped the side of the boat. _Was it the shark?_ Rebecca was too afraid to look over the side of the boat.

"Hey," the familiar voice of her son yelled, "we need help here!"

 

* * *

 

Ronan banged on the side of the boat again. He was breathing heavy and spitting out water every time a wave cashed over their heads. He tried to keep the kid from going under again, holding him up as high as possible, but the boy was starting to get heavy. A rope with a floatation device on it was thrown over and Ronan quickly grabbed it, like a lifeline, with one hand while keeping a tight hold on Jacob with the other. They were quickly pulled back into the boat.

Ronan set Jacob on the deck so that he was laying flat on his back. There was no question… the kid wasn't breathing. It felt harder for Ronan to breathe too, but he couldn't concentrate on himself right now, the kid was a lot worse off.

"Get us back to shore, that kid needs a doctor now!" the old man spoke up. Jacob's mom was still crying in the background with the rest of his family.

Ronan did the only thing he could think of: CPR.

He began the compressions on the chest to the tempo of _Staying Alive_ because he just couldn't bring himself to use _Another one Bites the Dust_ even as his internal song. He wanted to save this kid and thinking of that song just seemed like counting him out too early. As he continued the compressions his arms began to get tired. They had already felt like Jello from all the swimming and lifting, now they were just going numb. Still, he kept up the pace. He figured he had adrenaline to thank for most of his strength.

Ronan's lungs were screaming, by now. He couldn't breathe at all now. It was just like when he got out of the tank at the aquarium. He coughed and belched some seawater out of his mouth. His vision was going black around the edges.

 _No, I can't pass out, not yet._ He had to stay awake, the kid needed him.

But even as he thought that his body began to sway. "No!" he cried steeling himself against the blackness that was threatening to overtake him.

Rebecca watcher as her son choked up water. She could see him shaking as he continued to do CPR on the little boy. She watched as he started to lose his struggle to stay conscious. There was a bright flash of light from Ronan's hands as he pushed down one final time on Jacob's chest, before he fell over with a weak sigh.


	9. Chapter 9

Same as last time. The _exact_ same thing. Ronan couldn't breathe air, not at first. The water was expelled from his lungs and then he passed out. Rebecca watched the shallow breathing of her son.

There was a gasp and coughing.

"Oh. My. God." Someone breathed. She turned around to see the boy, Jacob was up.

His family quickly came over and embraced him, thanking Rebecca over and over again for helping to save him. But really what had she done? Held the life vest for Ronan while he went and saved the boy.

Her son had saved Jacob, not her.

She noticed that although his family was focused on him, he was focused on something else. Ronan. There was a look of wonderment on his young countenance as he gazed at his unconscious savior.

Rebecca looked to her son and her heart plummeted down to hang at the bottom of her lungs. It was really happening. There on Ronan's arm. Scales.

They were beautiful blue scales on his arms and lower back that developed a flesh colored hue right before they morphed with his skin. The transition from flesh to scales was beautiful. And frightening. It had been so long since Rebecca had seen them, and she knew without a doubt the saltwater was the reason they were visible. The man had not been lying to her all those years ago, saltwater was speeding up the transformation.

She glanced around, hoping that no one besides her and Jacob had seen the scales on Ronan. Everyone on the boat seemed too preoccupied with Jacob to notice the other boy.

Everyone but the captain.

He was staring at Ronan.

She saw him mouth a word. A word that made her blood run cold, "Mer," before he was away from the wheel of the boat and striding toward them in a hurry.

"That boy," he growled pointing at Ronan.

 _Oh god, here it is,_ Rebecca cringed.

"He can rest in my cabin until we get back to the docks."

" _Oh_." Rebecca saw no harm in that, so she watched as the man picked up her son and carried him below the deck of the ship into his private quarters. He then came up with an empty plastic cup. He grabbed a bucket from somewhere in the ship and threw it over the side of the boat to collect some ocean water. Then he pulled it back into the boat and quickly filled the cup with seawater before disappearing below again.

And just like that, the fisherman emerged from the bottom and resumed his place behind the wheel. Rebecca knew he had helped her son but she didn't like the smug, knowing smile he flashed in her direction. It clearly said he was on to her little secret. They resumed the trek back to land.

888

Ronan awoke with a killer headache and an incredible thirst. He looked around and realized he had absolutely no idea where he was. _Must still be on the boat_ , he decided as he felt the gentle rocking of the waves. _Passed out again,_ he sighed. This… condition was getting a little out of hand. Maybe he should talk to his mom about it, find out what was going on. Maybe there was some kind of genetic thing that he didn't know about.

And then he saw it. It was the most beautiful thing he had seen in a long time. A cup of water. God was he thirsty. Ronan ripped it out of the cup holder and wasted no time in gulping down the contents of the cup.

It tasted amazing.

He was still thirsty, but it definitely took the edge off.

It was at that time that Ronan realized that he still wasn't wearing a shirt. This realization was made largely in part by him scratching his arms, and looking down when he felt the scales again.

He sighed. Nothing he could do but wait for them to go away on their own, until he knew more about them, he supposed. So he tugged his shirt on and was very grateful for the long-sleeved coverage. His scales were covered completely.

"Oh my God," he suddenly realized, "that kid." He didn't know what happened to Jacob after he passed out. Was he even alive? He needed to know.

Jacob hadn't been breathing and then…

Ronan was pretty sure he had shocked the kid in the chest right before passing out. He buried his head in his hands, letting out a shaky breath. _Please let him be okay_.

A door opened.

"Ronan?" His mother's voice rang out.

"Yeah," he answered hoarsely.

"We're almost at the docks."

He sighed and carefully made his way up to the boat's deck, right as the boat reached the dock.. He assumed he'd be greeted by either really angry or really happy people. But he didn't quite expect to get tackled by a very wet child.

"Thank you for saving me," Jacob whispered. He tugged Ronan down to his level and whispered even softer, "And don't worry, I won't tell anyone about your scales. It'll be our secret," the kid gave him a big smile before joining the rest of his family on the dock.

Ronan followed his mom off the boat. Jacob's family waved her over to talk. "Come on Ronan," his mom waved for him to follow her.

But Ronan had already decided he needed to thank the captain. Sure the man seemed a little rough around the edges, but he had let Ronan use his personal living space. He told his mom to go ahead without him and then went to thank the man for the water and the resting area.

Spotting the man adjusting one of the ties holding his precious boat to the dock, Ronan went over. "I, uh," Ronan began awkwardly, "wanted to thank you for letting me use your bed… and the water." Ronan had been told it was polite to offer a a handshake in cases like these, so he extended his hand to the man as an extension of his gratitude.

The captain gave him a calculating glance before reaching out to shake Ronan's hand. It was a solid handshake, and Ronan, feeling that it had lasted the appropriate amount of time went to pull his hand away only to be yanked forward roughly. The fisherman used his other hand to push up Ronan's shirt sleeve.

"I knew it," the man muttered eyes locking on Ronan's scaled. He then grasped Ronan's hand with both of his and spread Ronan's fingers apart searching for… "Webbed fingers too," the man muttered.

Ronan's eyes went wide. When the hell had he gotten webbed fingers?

Holy crap.

He wasn't turning into a fish he was turning into a frog. Wait, frogs don't have scales. Okay, so maybe a swamp, er, _ocean_ monster. Or something.

Wait, how had the man known that he would have webbed fingers? The man pulled Ronan closer. "I know what you are," he whispered harshly, sending spittle flying into Ronan's face.

Ronan thought about saying, _Really, well would you clue me in?_ but instead just settled for casting the man a confused look. If the guy knew what was happening to him, Ronan would love to hear his explanation. But instead the guy pulled a business card out of his pocket that said his name telephone number and home address. "Ever wanna talk, you come to me." He was gone before Ronan could ask him anymore about… anything.

Ronan slid the card into his pocket and went over to his mom. "What'd he give you?" the woman asked curiously.

"Just some coupons," Ronan lied.


	10. Chapter 10

Over the next couple of days Rebecca and John noticed some startling changes in their son. That is… _when_ they saw him. More often than not he was down at the beach swimming in the frigid water. Or Talking to that fish (and when he was talking to the fish, well, there was something about the atmosphere that made it impossible to interrupt. It was like he told the fish everything. Hopes. Troubles. Fears. And they thought he needed an outlet for his problems. If talking to the fish helped, they'd let him do it.)

And when Ronan wasn't doing those two things he was extremely irritable. He coughed all the time saying that the air was too dry. He started drinking more water too. A lot more. He would down glass after glass at meals and anytime in between and still be thirsty.

Every night he would spend forever in the bathroom taking a long shower. Just letting the water surround him. They figured, giving his condition, it was mostly to keep himself damp. Then he would stumble into his room where they would hear him tossing and turning all night. Several times throughout the night they would hear banging in the little kitchen area. It was always Ronan getting more to drink.

Then last night, he had given up. They heard him get up with an exasperated sigh and go into the bathroom, filling up the tub. And that's where they found him in the morning. In the tub. Completely submerged in the tub. He had the faintest dash of scales freckling the visible parts of his arms. It wasn't at all the nice smooth look that Rebecca remembered from the boat.

"Why does he look like that?" Rebecca whispered to her husband, "Last time I saw them they were everywhere."

"Last time you saw him he was in salt water," John explained. He figured it made sense. Their son was technically a saltwater, _mammal?_

"Is it really that simple?"

John just shrugged. One thing he did know for certain was, their son was changing faster. "Do you think we should tell him what's going on?" John suggested.

Rebecca's heart gave a painful lurch. "I…" she began again, taking a deep breath, "I think we _should_ tell him but…"

"But?" John pressed gently.

"I just want a few more days with my son," she said quietly. "I want a few more days where he doesn't know. So everything can stay the same as it was…"

John knew how flawed that logic was but he agreed to wait for her sake. He only hoped it didn't come back to bite them in the butt.

And, of course he knew they'd _have_ to tell him. Have to admit to their son what exactly he was becoming. They'd have to tell Ronan he was turning into a mer.

 

* * *

 

Ronan woke up to both of his parents watching him with frowns on their faces. And he's pretty sure it's because he slept in the bathtub. He got up and unstopped the drain.

"Morning!" he greeted feeling well rested and chipper.

His parents frowns instantly disappeared replaced by gentle smiles. They were happy to see the return of their well-mannered son. "Nice to see you again Sea Monkey."

Yeah, Ronan supposed he hadn't really been acting much like himself the last couple of days. He climbed out of the tub and pulled off his shirt. Yeah, that's right he slept in the tub wearing his pajamas. His parents gasped their eyes focused on his stomach. He followed their gazes and saw scales peppering his abdomen. Just like the ones he had on his arms they started out the color of his skin and as they went further south they became a more intense blue before disappearing under the line of his pants.

His father cleared his throat awkwardly. "So… you going to the beach again today?"

"Yeah," Ronan confirmed almost apologetically. But… he just _needed_ to be in the water. "You guys could come along?"

Rebecca gave him a sad smile. John wrapped his arms around her. "Nah, we're gonna go farther up and hit the shops at the boardwalk today."

Ronan nodded. "Have fun."

"You too," John smiled.

 

* * *

 

Ronan rushed into the waves as fast as his feet would carry him and let out a sigh of overwhelming relief. It just felt so good to be in the water.

He looked around. The beach was empty. Apparently everyone else was busy elsewhere. Which he felt was ridiculous. Who vacationed at the shore and didn't step foot on the beach? And then he remembered up until this trip that had been what he always did.

He swam for ages. It was nearing an acceptable tome to eat dinner when he heard a distant splash. He looked around, immediately on edge. There still weren't any people around. And although the sea life he had met had all been friendly… well he was under absolutely no illusion that everything out there wanted to be his friend. Ronan had a feeling some of the animals straight from the ocean might be little bit more cut throat than the animals he had met on the whale watch.

Yup and there it was. A shark tail.

And as luck would have it, it was heading straight for Ronan.


	11. Chapter 11

Tiburon finally found the source of the strange scent again. He knew it was a mer. One that was a stranger to these parts of the waters. As captain of the guards it was his job to keep the waters in his kingdoms safe and that meant he needed to get this mer and find out why he was in these parts of the water and gently force them to make their presence known to the king. Then the strange mer could be on their way, with careful surveillance to make sure they didn't cause any trouble.

It wasn't that they didn't trust the outsiders, but more they were careful. An outsider was the reason for the horrible attack on the kingdom seventeen years ago, so they were cautious.

Tiburon was slowly approaching the unknown mer. His target froze and quickly looked in the direction that Tiburon was coming from. Tiburon attempted to duck under the waves but it was too late. He cursed as the mer began swiftly swimming toward the shore. Weird tactic (what was he going to do beach himself) but Tiburon sped after them.

The other mer was fast, but Tiburon was certain he could catch up. He was gaining on the panicking outsider. Right when the other was about to enter the shallow water that was difficult to swim in Tiburon made a lunge for the other.

The other let out a cry for help as the they tumbled into the shallows, Tiburon landing on top of the other mer.

There was a whimper of pain and Tiburon glared down to tell the other mer to grow a pair and shut up, after all it was the guy's own fault ('cause the mer was definitely a guy) he was being treated so roughly since he didn't follow proper protocol. And then he realized just who he was sitting on.

"Ronan?" Tiburon couldn't believe it. The man beneath him stared up at him with those incredibly large blue eyes. Eyes that were swimming in confusion.

"Tiburon?" Ronan looked around frantically. "We have to get out of the water! There's a shark!" Ronan pulled himself from under Tiburon and started to drag the other man toward the shore.

"Ronan. Ronan stop!" The man commanded. He saw a definite problem with going to shore in his current state. There was no way around it. He'd have to tell Ronan the truth. "There is no shark."

"But I saw…"

"You saw _me_ ," Tiburon interrupted. And the confused look was back on Ronan's face. Tiburon sighed. He pulled the man back into deeper water so there was more room to swim comfortably. This wasn't how he had planned this to go. He wanted to get to know Ronan a little more before telling the man what he was. But there really was no avoiding it.

"Alright, Ronan, now don't freak out." Ronan felt unease pool in his gut at Tiburon's words. In his experience whenever someone started a conversation like that it was always because they knew the person they were talking to was going to "freak out."

"I just want to let you know before I tell you this that this is not how I planned for you to find out about this. But I feel like I can trust you," the man said earnestly. "And, as I'm sure you noticed from last time we met, I think you're an amazingly beautiful person," he added straightforward and unashamed.

Ronan's cheeks colored. If he was honest with himself, he found Tiburon incredibly attractive too. And it wasn't just the outside that Ronan found so appealing. He liked the man's carefree personality. All his thoughts were blown away by Tiburon's next sentence.

"I'm a mer."

"What?"

"I'm a mer," the man confessed again.

Now as much as Ronan would have loved to freak out about then, he found himself calm. A little too calm, but it just made sense. The pieces of the puzzle that was Tiburon were slowly coming together. Ronan had never seen him out of the water, or even from the waist down. And when it had stormed so bad the man hadn't gotten out of the water. Ronan blushed at his next thought, and he hadn't been wearing anything. He still probably wasn't wearing anything.

Ronan glanced down trying to get a glimpse of the mer's tail below the undulating water but couldn't see anything. So, he decided since he couldn't see it he'd have to feel it. He reached his hands out toward Tiburon putting them on his solid chest.

The mer sucked in a breath. What was this human doing to him? He let Ronan glide his hands slowly, sensually (although he had the feeling Ronan wasn't trying to be sensual) down his chest. The ghost of a touch trailed down, down ,down and soon those pale hands slipped below the surface of the water.

Ronan gasped as he felt Tiburon's tail. It was smooth like a shark, or the rays at the aquarium. And soft, but definitely powerful. He could feel the muscles in the appendage as he continued to explore. He wanted to memorize every inch of Tiburon even the parts he couldn't see.

 _Oh Gods,_ Tiburon was being tormented by those wonderful hands. Ronan seemed absolutely enthralled with his tail. His hands hadn't left any area unexplored, untouched and Tiburon found it increasingly difficult to keep his hands off of the human. At this rate he'd find himself in a fever with this beautiful man and then he really wouldn't be able to stop from touching Ronan because the only way to stop the fever was contact with the mer/person that put him there.

Tiburon groaned and took Ronan's hands in his own, pulling them up to the surface. He kissed those amazing hands gently, "As much as I enjoyed your attention, I'm afraid if you continued what you were doing I wouldn't be able to stop myself from ravishing you," Tiburon admitted voice thick with lust. And his reward for such straightforward words was a delicious pink tinge on the other's skin.

Just like that, Tiburon smelled it again. The other mer. And it smelled close. Tiburon pulled Ronan against him to shield him against the possible threat.

"What is it?" Ronan asked in alarm.

"I smelled a strange mer. That's actually why I jumped on you, I thought you might be the mer. But the smell went away. Now, it's back." Tiburon explained quickly. He gave a sniff. The smell was strong now even with the human right in front of him. It was strange.

He heard mers say that humans had a smell that almost completely masked everything else. He shouldn't smell a mer over a human that was so close to him.

Then a thought came to Tiburon. _Could the smell be coming from Ronan?_ He leaned forward and leaned his head into the crook of the man's neck and just breathed in the scent of the other.

Ronan's heart thudded in his chest. What was Tiburon _doing_? He felt the deep breaths the other was taking tickling his skin. And just as quickly as the mer had started his strange sniffing he stopped and pulled his head away looking at Ronan in confused wonder.

"You're the mer," Tiburon all but whispered.

Ronan looked at him panicked. He wasn't a mer, he was… "No…I…I…" what if he was a mer? No! he was a human. His parents would have told him ages ago if he wasn't.

Tiburon yanked him back and pulled of Ronan's arms above the water. Ah yes, there they were. Scales. They seamlessly merged from the pale flesh to a vibrant lapis-lazuli on the man's upper arms.

"Why didn't you tell me?" the mer hissed feeling betrayed.

"Tell you what?"

"Oh, don't play dumb with me. You're a mer!" Tiburon growled. "But how are you able to _do_ it?"

"Do _what_? What are you talking about?" Ronan yanked on his arm trying to get it out of Tiburon's tightening grasp.

"Oh come off it. The _spell_. You're spelled as a two-legged."

"I was born a _two-legged_ ," Ronan tried desperately to explain.

"No mer is born two-legged," Tiburon said darkly. The only way a mer was a human was if they were spelled. And if they were young when it was cast, which Ronan had to be if he didn't remember being a mer, the spell always wore off during puberty allowing the mer to return to their home in the ocean. Now Tiburon wasn't an expert on humans, but he was pretty sure Ronan had hit puberty years ago.

Tiburon knew he had to take Ronan to the kingdom. The king had to know about this mer in human's clothing. "Come on Ronan, I'm taking you to see the king," he began pulling the young man further into the ocean.

"No," Ronan tried to get out of Tiburon's grasp. "No, Tiburon. Let me go!"

Tiburon ignored him.

"I said no!" Ronan shouted releasing a shock that dazed Tiburon, causing the mer's grip to slacken. Ronan seized the opportunity to yank himself away and swim to shore.

Tiburon shook his head. "Shit," that had been some shock Ronan had given him. And then the _human_ had run out of the water and up the beach out of sight.

"Can't believe he's a mer," Tiburon hissed before diving beneath the surface and swimming toward the palace. He needed to let the king know exactly what had happened. Maybe he would know what to do about Ronan.

 

* * *

 

Ronan ran into the hotel room to find his mom watching TV from her bed. "Mom," he immediately rounded on her, desperation in his tone. "Mom," he repeated urgently, "please, I know you know what's going on!" He started pacing nervously waiting for her answer.

"Ronan, Ronan calm down," Rebecca watched as her son stopped his pacing and took a deep calming breath. The wild look still remained in his eyes, but it would do. "Now, what are you talking about?"

He held up his arm showing off the brilliantly colored scales that had yet to disappear. " _This_ ," he hissed.

His mom just looked at him, a guilty expression on her face. "Well, are you gonna tell me what you know, or what?" He watched as she bit her lip and adverted her gaze.

Ronan felt like he had been punched in the gut. She wasn't going to tell him. Ronan fumed. Of course, why would he expect her to tell him anything? It's not like she was forthcoming with information before. He still didn't know why he could produce electricity, but he was beginning to think the scales and the electricity, the talking to fish was all related. But he wanted to know what was going on, _needed_ to know. As much as it pained him to admit it, he wasn't going to get those answers from his mom. She had far too many secrets about him and he was sick of it.

"Fuck you," he bit out throwing all his emotions into those two words. And with that he strode out of the hotel room.

 

* * *

 

Ronan laughed nervously to himself. What he was doing was crazy, reckless, but he didn't know what else to do. There was no one else he could think to go to… and hey, the man had offered to talk to him. Had said he knew what Ronan was.

He didn't bring the card, having long since memorized the information on it but it probably didn't matter. The man would remember him. Ronan hoped.

He knocked on the door. "Who the hell comes to someone's house this late at night?" the fisherman growled as he opened the door. And there stood the boy. The one who was a mer.

The kid's eyes shone with determination as he demanded, "Tell me what you know."


	12. Chapter 12

Tiburon was swift in locating the king, " Your majesty, I have a pressing issue that has arisen involving the outsider I spoke to you about earlier."

"Really Tiburon?" the king didn't seem at all concerned with the prospect of a wayward mer. " Where is the outsider? I thought you were bringing them back here."

Tiburon looked away in shame, "Well," gods this was embarrassing, "he got away."

The king snorted out a laugh. "Some random outside mer manage to out swim my captain of the guards? Impressive, now I really want to meet him."

"Well, he didn't actually out swim me. He caught me unaware."

The king looked at Tiburon sharply. How had this mer managed to catch his captain of the guards unaware? "How'd he do that?" the King asked curiosity dripping off every word.

"He, he... Majesty does anyone outside of the royal family have the ability to shock like an eel?"

The innocent question earned a hopeful look from the king. "No," the king breathed. "Tiburon, you've found someone like that?"

"Yes," Tiburon answered just as quietly.

" Who? The outsider?"

Tiburon nodded. " You remember the human I told you about? Ronan. He's the mer. He shocked me and I was so surprised I let him go. But I don't understand how it's possible. That two-legged spell should have worn off years ago. It just doesn't make _sense_." Tiburon growled growing frustrated.

"Tiburon, I know how it's possible and I can't help but think that it's all my fault he's still up there." the king spoke, radiating sadness and guilt.

Tiburon didn't understand why the king was so upset over a two-legged spell gone wrong. It's not like he was the reason Ronan was spelled the way he was. He opened his mouth to express these thoughts to the king. But was quickly silence by a flourish of that powerful hand.

"Tiburon I am about to tell you something that no mer knows. It's about my son. My Chromis-Rasha."

Tiburon listened as the king told him what really transpired the day his son was transformed into a two-legged. He listened to the tale of a desperate attempt to save his only son from the dangers of the terrible outsider invasion all of those years ago. He listened as the king told of the spells he cast upon his heir.

"I figured he was safer that way. Not knowing where he came from, not knowing who I was. Who _he_ was."

"I went to the people who took him in a few days after they found him and told them everything," the king admitted. "They told me they'd take care of him and when the time came, they'd make sure he got back to the sea safely. I was so happy he had found such a good family that I got careless," he fixed his unblinkingly serious gaze upon Tiburon.

"Did you know there is a way to keep a young mer spelled like that for their whole life?" the king admitted.

"But how? They always change back when they become an adult ."

"Saltwater," the king stated simply. At Tiburon's confused expression he raked a hand through his hair frowning slightly when it got stuck on a shell he had woven in it earlier. "You're not making this easy on me."

"Well sorry," Tiburon bit back.

The king sighed and explained," I told them if he didn't go in saltwater he'd stay human. And they managed to keep my son out of it until this year."

the king looked at the other mer. "And now I must ask a favor of you," the king knew his son was not ready to know about who he was. He just started the transformation into a mer and was probably confused. There was no reason to make the boy worry by telling him he wasn't only a mer but a royal. Tiburon had never seen a more concerned fatherly expression on the royal's countenance. "Watch over Ronan for me. But Please don't tell him he's my son."


	13. Chapter 13

The fisherman stepped aside to welcome the strange human into his house. He had known the boy would be back. The kid was confused about what was happening to him and from the looks of it his parents weren't giving him any answers. Just as he thought, it was very easy to lure this young man into his trap.

Ronan entered the house and heard the click of the front door closing behind him. "Please tell me what you know about me," he asked politely his earlier desperation ebbing away a little bit at the promise of answers.

"I'll tell you what I know," but how about something to drink first, hmm?"

Ronan found himself quickly agreeing. He was _really_ thirsty, after all.

The fisherman told Ronan to make himself at home and went off to get them both something to drink. Ronan sat there waiting for the fisherman to come back with the drinks, smirking in amusement as he heard the old man swearing and fumbling around for something in the kitchen.

A couple minutes later the man came back and handed Ronan a glass of water. Ronan immediately took a large gulp of the refreshing liquid and look up to see the fisherman still standing near him. He was staring at Ronan, making the atmosphere really uncomfortable.

The fisherman put down his drink and continued to stare at Ronan like he was some kind of prized exotic beast.

_Maybe coming here was a mistake,_ Ronan thought giving the fisherman a nervous smile.

"So can you tell me what I am now?" he asked the fisherman. He took another gulp of the water.

" I'll tell you what you are," the fisherman growled.

Ronan never saw the hit coming, but boy did he feel it. The fisherman's foot met with his stomach. Hard. It knocked the wind out of him.

He jumped on top of Ronan, taking advantage of the kid's surprise. Ronan hissed as the man grabbed his hair and hold his head back to a very uncomfortable position. He tried to struggle but only managed to earn himself a hard smack to the head.

The man rummaged around in his pocket and pulled out the syringe he had gotten ready earlier. It contained a powerful sedative that he was pretty sure could bring down a blue whale. It should definitely work against this mer.

He uncapped the needle and wasted no time in plunging it into the meaty area of the kid's shoulder, injecting the sedative into the boy.

And only then did he answer Ronan's question. "You're my ticket to millions."

Ronan pushed weakly at the man and managed to get the man off of him.

" _Shit_ ," he cursed. the word came out slurred. What's had that man giving him? He staggered. Trying to stay on his feet. His whole body felt heavy, sluggish. He took another step in the direction of the door and fell to his knees.

The fisherman watched with satisfaction as the kid staggered and fell to the ground. The sedative had worked. He pulled his flip-phone out of his pocket and dialed a number he knew by heart. " Hey Paul," the man scowled at the phone.

"Ah, quit your bitching and get over here. I got something interesting that you'll want to see," he listened as Paul said something into the receiver. "Yeah, see you in a little bit. And Paul, you might want to tell your friends in D.C. To come check it out too. This... this could make us millions."

He quickly hung up the phone and looked down to the sleeping form of the mer. He couldn't help the giddy smile that graced his face as he watched his ticket to a better future. And he was sure he would get plenty of money for this beautiful young specimen.

The fisherman picked up the slumbering mer and carried him over to one of his kitchen chairs. He sat the kid on the chair and realized he forgot something to tie him to the chair. Swearing he left the kid and went to find his rope.

When he returned to the kitchen, the kid had fallen to the floor. He picked him up and expertly tied him to the chair. Now if they weren't ready when the kid woke up, the kid wouldn't be going anywhere. With that happy thought he left the kid in the kitchen.

It was time to get that tank ready.

 

* * *

 

Rebecca was worried. It was dark and Ronan still hadn't come back. Ronan left some time last night after getting really angry. It was unlike him to not let them know where he was. And she knew without a doubt that it was all her fault he was gone. She buried her head in her hands. If only she had told him the truth.


	14. Chapter 14

He first became aware of voices. There was a low murmuring coming from somewhere near him. He kept his eyes closed feigning sleep.

His head hurt and his mouth felt dry. He tried to move and found it impossible. Every part of his body felt agonizingly heavy. His mind felt foggy. And he seemed to be tied tightly to a very uncomfortable chair. But he thought, maybe if he continued to act like he was asleep they'd continue to ignore him.

Ronan heard the familiar voice of the fisherman. That's right, that's why he was in this mess in the first place. The fisherman. He went to see him. To find out what the man knew about him. And the man had… taken him hostage? How was he going to get out of this one? He never should have came. The fisherman yelled excitedly, "I'm telling you Paul, he's one of them!" Ronan felt his stomach churn.

The other man, Paul, answered skeptically, "You've said that before and every time you've been wrong."

"Trust me on this. Just put him in the tank," the fisherman was doing his best to convince the other. Ronan hoped the guy didn't listen to the crazy man.

Then to his relief the other answered, "And watch him _drown_? No thanks."

"Paul, he'll be fine. He's a _mer_!" the fisherman whined in exasperation. Ronan felt sick. There was that word again. And the fisherman had finally told him at least part of what he knew. But Ronan had already been told that much by someone much less dangerous and more _sane_ than this man. And what had he done? Shocked him and proceed to self destruct in panic. He guessed he had realized that he was a mer the moment it left Tiburon's mouth. It just made sense, but… was it so wrong to want to hear the truth from your family. To want to know more about it from someone who was supposed to love you, and have you best interests at heart?

He still didn't know why he went to the fisherman's house. He should have gone back to Tiburon. Or… hell, he probably could have asked Fisk. That spunky little blabbermouth would have told him what he wanted to know, and more. But, he was just so, _angry_ , so hurt that his mother wouldn't tell him the truth that he might have overreacted a little.

And then Paul said the words that would ultimately seal Ronan's fate. Such a simple phrase, really. "Prove it," Ronan imagined him standing there stubbornly crossing his arms.

"Fine," the fisherman huffed. He stomped around for a few minutes and Ronan heard him getting closer. His arm was grasped roughly and water was poured over it. It felt so good Ronan almost sighed in relief.

"And what was that supposed to do?" Paul sounded like he was having a bit of an attitude problem.

"Just watch," the fisherman said confidently.

And then Ronan felt it. His arm started to itch and he knew that scales were beginning to appear on his arm. _Oh god, this isn't good_.

"Holy shit," Paul spoke in hushed awe. The fisherman just laughed smugly in response.

Then Paul was talking. To someone else. "Yeah, it's the real deal this time," a pause. Ronan realized he must be talking on the phone. "I've seen it with my own eyes. Full-fledged mer. Young. Fit. Yeah. See you then," he hung up the phone.

Then talking to the fisherman, Paul announced, "They'll be here in four hours."

"What the _fuck_ , Paul. You know this kid's not gonna be a full-fledged mer in _four hours_!"

"No, actually, I did not know that," Paul said. Ronan thought he heard the man mutter _asshole_ under his breath, and he was inclined to agree with him.

There was silence for a while, then, "You know what? I actually have a solution for this," the fisherman told Paul.

"Oh really, enlighten me," Paul said his voice dry and droll.

"The serum."

"I'm sorry, I must have spaced out there for a second. I thought you said 'the serum.'" Ronan did not like the way this was going. It took everything in him not to let them know he was awake.

"I did," the fisherman confirmed.

"But that hasn't been tested sufficiently," Paul argued.

" _But_ , it doesn't do anything to humans. There's no way something could go wrong. It's a win/win for us Paul. Who cares if the mer dies? Then you can just dissect him instead of having a live specimen."

That was too much for Ronan. He gasped. _Shit._

"Hey, I think he's awake," Paul whispered to his accomplice.

"Stop pretending you're asleep, fuckin' _fish_ ," the fisherman growled slapping Ronan across the face.

Ronan grunted in pain and slowly opened his eyes. It was difficult to focus, but he did his best to glare at the fisherman. God, he felt dizzy. It was hard to keep his eyes open. "How much sedative did you give him? He still looks a little out of it," Paul commented.

"Enough," was the gruff reply.

Ronan tried to focus his eyes on Paul. The guy was talking to him "…give you a little injection now… won't hurt you, but you might feel a slight pinch on your upper arm." Paul lightly put his hand on Ronan's upper arm.

Ronan let out a slurred, "No," and tried weakly to move himself away from the syringe that was slowly coming closer. The needle pierced his skin. The fluid was injected into his arm.

 

* * *

 

"This is ridiculous Becca!" a very frustrated and worried John raked a hand through his hair. "Something's obviously happened to him. He wouldn't be gone for this long without at least contacting us," he paced quickly back and forth in their hotel room.

Then, seemingly deciding something, he headed to the door. "Where are you going?" Rebecca asked startled.

"I'm gonna file a missing persons report and then go around town looking for him."

"I'll go with you," Rebecca practically jumped at the chance of doing something to help.

"No," John ordered. He needed to be alone right now to try to reign in his panic. He didn't want to take out his frustration on someone he cared about. Seeing the hurt look on his wife's face he tried again, "No, you should stay here."

Anger surged through Rebecca hot and swift. "Listen here, if you think I'm gonna sit here and wait while you're out there trying to find our son, you have another thing coming!"

Holding up appeasing hands John explained further. "I know. I want you to go to the beach and look for him while I cover the streets."

"You think he'll be at the beach?" Rebecca asked hope in her voice.

John allowed himself a small smile. "I don't call him sea monkey for nothing," and then he was out the door.

Rebecca sighed and looked around the hotel room. Fisk was in his bowl watching her with interest. "I wish I could understand you," she told the fish, "I bet _you_ know where Ronan is." She could have sworn she saw the fish nod.

A few minutes later she was out the door and on her way to the beach. She didn't see anyone just from doing a quick glance around. But she wasn't going to give up. Ronan was fond of swimming in the ocean. She had seen him slicing through the waves ever since the disastrous aquarium trip.

She began looking in the water calling his name. "Ronan!"

She walked down the coast. "Ronan!"

She walked up and down the beach several times. Looking on land. In the water for a bobbing head. Listening for splashes or the sound of his voice. She yelled herself hoarse. When Rebecca was about to give up she heard a splash in the waves. "Ronan?" she called scarcely able to hope that it might be him.

"No," came a strong reply. What little hope Rebecca gathered died when that person spoke. She held back a sob and turned to run off the beach. She couldn't do this. She wasn't strong enough.

"Wait," the man commanded. Rebecca stopped and turned to the strange man in the water. "I'll help you find him."

"And how are you going to do that?" she asked quietly scarcely able to believe his words.

"I can sense him," the man said with total confidence in his absurd proclamation. Rebecca squinted her eyes and moved closer to the man. She thought she saw… Yes, there it was. A tail. Brownish-red in color and strangely shark-like. When the waves were at their lowest point she could just make it out.

"You're a mer."

"I'm a mer," the man agreed.

"How will you be able to help if you're stuck in the water?" Rebecca asked. Ronan wasn't in the water. For some reason she was sure of that after seeing this mer. If he was in the water he'd be safe. And he would have let them know. Maybe… she had made him pretty angry. But Ronan was on land and land was not an easy place for a fish to live.

"Give me a few minutes and I'll be a two-legged like you."

Rebecca watched in fascination as the water around the mer began to bubble. He hissed in pain and clawed at the water in front of him. He pulled himself to shore and Rebecca noticed he was now sporting a pair of legs and nestled between those legs was a very big… _ahem_ …

He bent over in the sand, gasping for breath and Rebecca watched the somewhat familiar scene of water rushing to leave the mer's lungs.

Tiburon made one last gagging sound and scrambled to his feet. "Man that was unpleasant," he laughed.

"Uh huh," Rebecca said dragging her eyes up to meet the man's face.

"Come on, we need to get to Ronan. I can feel him."

Rebecca stood firmly in place.

"Come on! I'll lead you to him," the mer insisted.

"That's great," Rebecca exclaimed, "but first…" she trailed off as her gaze traveled south again. God that thing was distracting!

The mer threw his hands up in exasperation, tired of her stalling. "What? What could be more important than finding your son?"

Rebecca's face heated up. Well… it wasn't more important than finding Ronan but… "We need to find you some pants first."


	15. Chapter 15

In the hotel room Rebecca and a fully clothed Tiburon were waiting for John to return so the three of them could go get Ronan from wherever in God's name he was. "Hey! You!" Tiburon heard.

He looked around to see where the voice was coming from. "Did you hear anything?" he asked Rebecca. She just shook her head.

"You, the soggy blonde. Are you going to look for Ronan?" And there it was. A sea creature, in a little glass bowl.

"Why are you in that bowl?" Tiburon asked it confused.

"Trust me, it's a lot better in here than out there," the fish deadpanned, "but more importantly, I know where Ronan went."

You know where Ronan is?" Tiburon repeated excitedly.

"No?" Rebecca answered.

Tiburon spun to face her, "Not you, him," he corrected gesturing to the fish.

"He knows where Ronan is? Will he tell us?" Rebecca asked looking at Tiburon.

"Duh," the fish replied. "He's been looking at a card for the past couple of days. Kept talking about a fisherman?"

Tiburon told Rebecca this and she swore. "I knew something happened between him and that man."

The door opened and John came inside. He took one glance at the tanned Adonis in the room with his wife and asked, "who's this?"

Tiburon walked over and introduced himself. "I'm Tiburon."

"He's a mer," Rebecca added.

"Does Fisk know where the card is?" Rebecca asked.

Tiburon looked at the fish and was a little disappointed to see the fish shaking his head. At least he could still sense Ronan's presence. "The fish doesn't know where the card is. But I can lead you to Ronan. We'll get him back," the mer promised with confidence.

John nodded and all three of them left in a rush, piling quickly into the car to find Ronan.

 

* * *

 

Ronan was in absolute agony. Every cell in his body was on fire. They had released him from his tied up position on the chair and he was now withering on the floor.

"It's working, he's changing!" the fisherman shouted in glee.

But something wasn't right. It wasn't happening the way it normally happened. Ronan's skin felt like it was boiling away. Scales appeared on his arm, slicing him like tiny razorblades and leaving him bloody.

_It hurt!_

He cried out when a strong wave of pain coursed through his hands. Looking at them through the tears in his eyes he saw his fingers were webbed. He took in a shuttering breath. _Oh God_. Now it was happening to his legs and feet.

" _Calo!_ " he shouted in desperation.

"Get his pants off. His legs are changing!" one of them yelled.

And then the fisherman was upon him attempting to yank off his pants. Ronan kicked out blindly and managed to connect with the man, sending him flailing away with a growl. "You know what? Fuck it! Paul, get me a knife."

Ronan tried to crawl away from them, but the fisherman was back all too soon. He sliced Ronan's pants off and then made quick work of his shirt as well. Last, he yanked the boy's shoes off. They watched as his legs seemed to fuse together. It was actually quite nauseating. His feet elongated and he began to look more fishlike below the waist. Scales started to appear in bloody patches.

" _Calo_ ," the boy whimpered.

Ronan curled into a semi-fetal position, trying to keep the men from doing anything more to him.

"Mary's tits!" the fisherman yelled.

"He really is a mer!" Paul said gleefully.

Ronan dared a glance down to his lower half. He had a tail. He let out a humorless laugh. This isn't how he'd imagined it. Actually he hadn't really imagined it, but being in the water felt so natural. Breathing it in had felt second nature to him. This tail felt… weird, unnatural. Even the scales on his arms felt foreign. It wasn't like all the other times.

Something was wrong with him.

His neck burned.

And then he couldn't breathe. He was gasping and crying silently.

Paul noticed a change in the boy. "There's something wrong with him," he stated. He rushed over to the boy and struggled to help him into a sitting position.

"What's wrong?" he asked gently, concerned for the boy's wellbeing.

" _Calo. Len do n'rat hasha_ ," the child spoke softly holding a hand to his neck like he was choking.

Paul had absolutely no clue what he had said, but once the hand moved away from his neck, he saw: gills. "Jesus! He can't breathe," Paul picked the kid up and staggered over to the tank.

Ronan felt a sense of helplessness wash over him as he was being carried closer to the tank. He didn't want to go in there. If he went in, he knew he'd probably be there for a long time. " _N'ra_ ," he whispered struggling with all his might.

" _N'ra, n'ra_!" he struggled. _Don't put me in there_. He cried holding onto Paul tightly. A wave of pain hit him again and he screamed.

The fisherman watched as a bright crackling light surrounded the two. It reminded the man of lightning. The light disappeared and both figures lay on the ground. He walked closer, checking on the mer first.

Unconscious.

He picked up the boy and threw him into the tank getting some satisfaction out of watching him sink to the bottom. Tendrils of blood plumed out of the boy from between his scales.

The fisherman went to check on Paul. He didn't see the man breathing. He checked his pulse.

The fisherman chuckled. Well, at least one good thing had happened with the mer's freak out.

Paul was dead.

Now all the riches, all the glory, all the credit for finding a mer would be his and his alone.

He sat down on his couch and turned on the television, deciding to make himself comfortable as he waited for those wonderful government scientists to show up and take their latest test subject away.


	16. Chapter 16

John, Rebecca and Tiburon stood outside a normal everyday house. Rebecca's brow crinkled in confusion. This didn't look like the type of house the fisherman would live in. It was too… average.  
"Are you sure he's in here?" she asked skeptically.

"Yes," was the serious reply from Tiburon.

"So," John joined the conversation trying to shake some of his nerves, "what's the plan?"

"Get Ronan out."

"Oh yeah, of _course_ ," he had been hoping for something just a bit more... _elaborate_ than that.

Tiburon stepped forward and went to open the door.

"It's the middle of the night, I doubt it'll be-" the door squeaked open, "-open." Rebecca rolled her eyes muttering, "forgot I said anything."

The house opened up into a living room and there on the couch sat a person Rebecca recognized immediately. It was the Fisherman from the whale watch, just like Fisk had said.

She remembered how she had thought there had been something... fishy about him. Anger surged through her. This man had taken her son.  
This man had taken her son.

"You _bastard_ ," she growled attacking the man where he sat. She tackled him clawing at his face as they both fell to the floor.

The man was so shocked he didn't even try to fight for a couple seconds. A particularly hard right hook jogged him out of his stupor.

"Well she looks like she's doing ok. Wanna split up and look for Ronan?" John suggested. He knew his wife could handle herself against this man.

Tiburon didn't need to be told twice. He nodded his head and then shot off to the room directly attached to the living room while John walked off to the left to begin his search. Tiburon looked around the room. He had studied humans and knew this room to be a kitchen. He looked to the left and saw a refrigerator, cabinets, and sink? Looked right and there was a table and chairs and a _fish tank._  
"Oh _Neptune_ ," he cursed racing to the tank. He put his hands on it. This was bad. This was _really_ bad. And so _wrong_.

Ronan was laying on the bottom transformed and bloody. The water was a dirty color from all of the blood that had already seeped out of his wounds.

The scales on his arm looked jagged and broken and his tail, that should have been a brilliant lapis-lazuli had big patches that still resembled flesh. The scales were a sick color that lacked the gentle shine normally associated with a mer's tail. And he was breathing so shallowly. The gills on his neck barely opening before they would flutter closed again. As Tiburon was watching him those beautiful eyes opened and locked on him.

" _Calo_ ," Ronan breathed before his eyes once more closed.

There was a yell of, "bitch," from the other room and a loud thud.

Tiburon barely even registered it. He left his hands fall from the glass. "This is not natural," his voice was quivering with anger and fear. What if Ronan died before he could help him?

There was a rough hand on his shoulder and he was yanked around, coming face to face with the fisherman.  
"What did you _do_ to him?" Tiburon snarled in the man's face.

The man snaked his hands around Tiburon's neck and tried to choke him. "I made him worth _millions_ ," the man cackled. And that's when Tiburon realized this man was insane. Really and truly crazy.

"It's not right. Not _natural_ ," Tiburon wheezed. Over the fisherman's shoulder he saw John sneaking into the room. The man's eyes were full of range and he carried a shovel menacingly over his shoulder.

"How would _you_ know?" the Fisherman asked. Then his face lit up. Hid grip tightened and Tiburon gagged.  
"You're one too!" the fisherman could not contain his excitement. He began to choke the man in earnest hoping he'd pass out and then he'd have not one, But two mers for the government.

Tiburon acted like that man was really hurting him, like he was going to pass out any second. John was close now, he watched the man through narrowed eyes, face contorted in rage.  
"Duck!" John yelled while swinging the shovel at the fisherman's head.

Tiburon quickly smacked the man's hands away and crouched to the floor. He heard the shovel connect with the man's head with a sickening crack.

The man seemed to stand there dazed until John swung the shovel again. Then he toppled to the ground.

"Don't . You. _Touch_. My. Family. You. Bastard," each word was accented with another bone shattering hit from the shovel. Finally the man lay broken and bleeding on the floor.

John threw the shovel down breathing heavily. His eyes rested upon Ronan. "Jesus, _God_ , we need to get him out of there."

He clamored up to the top of the tank and when to get into the water. "If I can get him over the top will you catch him?" he asked looking at Tiburon.

The mer shook his head. "I can't."

" Why the hell not?" John snapped.

"With that much saltwater, I'll turn back into a mer"

There was a clearing of a throat and they both looked to the doorway to see Rebecca smiling grimly through a cracked lip. Her left eye was beginning to swell shut. She looked a mess.  
She limped over to them. "I'll help. Tiburon Why don't you wait in the living room? We'll bring him there once he's out of the water." Tiburon nodded and went to wait.

A few minutes later John carried Ronan into the room while Rebecca dried him off a bit with paper towels trying to make sure Tiburon wouldn't change back when he touched Ronan. Then set him down on the sofa. Ronan looked at them.

" _Gamara, Imara_?"

" what is he saying?" Rebecca asked a note of panic in her voice.

"Father, mother," Tiburon translated.

" _Calo ma_ ," he whispered eyes intense, pleading, not looking at his father or mother, but straight into Tiburon's eyes. His breathing was fast, irregular and terribly labored.  
"What'd he say that time?" John asked, a lot calmer than his wife.

Tiburon bit his lip and breathed, "help me."

"Oh god," Rebecca groaned. She grabbed at the collar of Tiburon's shirt desperately. "You can help him, right?" more desperately, " _Please_ tell me you can help him."

"I can help him," the mer confirmed. He sat on the couch next to Ronan's weak form.

Rebecca kneeled down and grasped her son's hand. "He's gonna help you, honey," she smiled through the tears that had begun to fall.

Tiburon leaned close, very close to Ronan. He put one hand where the boy's heart would be and threaded the other through his wild hair. "I can change you back," Tiburon whispered in Ronan's ear. "It won't be permanent, probably only a couple of hours. But you won't be in pain anymore."

He looked Ronan in the eyes, begging forgiveness for what he was about to do. The mer beneath him gave him a small nod of permission. Not wanting to waste anymore time, Tiburon leaned down and put his lips to Ronan's.

"You're supposed to be changing him back, not tongue raping him," John growled. He watched incredulously as Tiburon began kissing his son with more fever. Jesus, he looked like he was trying to suck Ronan's tonsils out. He was about to rip the mer off his son when Rebecca put a hand on his arm. "Look," she croaked gesturing to their son's tail.

And before their eyes, the jagged scales retreated. The webbing between his fingers disappeared. His gills followed soon after. Every cut and bruise disappeared and his tail one again became a pair of legs.

Ronan let out a gasp of breath and shot up wrapping his arms around Tiburon's neck. And kissed him gently on the corner of his mouth. Tiburon let out a happy but startled laugh.

 

* * *

 

They sat in the hotel a few hours later. John and Rebecca on one bed, Tiburon and Ronan on the other.

John folded his arm across his chest and gave Tiburon a look, "Ok so explain to me why it was necessary to kiss my son."

Tiburon sighed. He didn't think the man would believe him if he said it wasn't a kiss. "Mer's all have one unique power that is passed down through their family line. Ronan's is-"

"Electricity," everyone in the room said in chorus.

"Right," Tiburon coughed, "mine is healing."

"That still doesn't explain the kiss."

Tiburon rolled his eyes. Honestly. The guy was really hung up over that little detail. "For small healings my hands are sufficient. For massive healings I can kiss someone, giving them a breath of life. It makes them heal much faster which can be the difference between life and death in some cases. I wasn't taking any chances with Ronan."

"Oh," John squeaked at a loss of words.

Ronan yawned loud and wide next to him. John and Rebecca realizing that they're son deserved some much needed rest, said their goodnights.

Tiburon helped Ronan into bed and turned to leave.

"Tiburon," a tired voice called. He turned to face Ronan. "Tiburon will you stay with me tonight?"

The mer's gaze softened, "Of course I'll stay."

Ronan moved over and Tiburon crawled into the bed with him. The man snuggled close to his side and Tiburon leaned down to give Roman a kiss on his forehead.

"You missed," Ronan whined through a yawn.

"What?"

"You're supposed to kiss me on the mouth"

"Oh _am_ I?" Tiburon said unable to keep the smile out of his voice.

"Tiburon, kiss me," Ronan ordered sleepily.

"As you wish, Chromis-rasha," and without further ado he did as his prince commanded.


	17. Chapter 17

The next morning Tiburon awoke before Ronan and decided to have a quick word with John and Rebecca. He slipped out of the bed quietly, as not to wake the peaceful slumbering man, and made his way into the room where Ronan's parents spent most of their time. He told them that Ronan probably only had a few hours before he would turn into a mer forever. They would have that time to say goodbye to their son. And tell him how they found him. It was way past time he found out what was going on.

Tiburon told them he'd be in the water outside the hotel room when they were ready to give Ronan to the sea.

 

* * *

 

A few hours later Rebecca and Ronan stood at a section of beach a mile, maybe two, away from their hotel room.

"Why'd you bring me here, Mom?" Ronan asked in a small voice, even though he had a suspicion he knew _exactly_ what the significance of this place was. Why she brought him here.

She was going to tell him how she sound him.

"It's way past time for me to tell you how you became our son."

 

_Seventeen Years Earlier_

He was playing in the waves the first time they saw him. Splashing around without a care in the world. They watched him for a while, waiting for some kind of parent to show up.

One hour went by. Then two.

A horrible realization befell the young couple. The little boy was alone.

Whoever his parents were needed a serious talking to, _normal_ people didn't just let their _maybe_ five year old play unaccompanied in the unforgiving Atlantic Ocean.

Another thirty minutes ticked by and still no sign of a mom or dad.

"Oh John, this is ridiculous," Rebecca SéWell huffed motioning to the happy child on the beach. "I'm gonna go get him," she decided already pulling on her windbreaker and heading out the door.

"Yeah, you better hurry, he looks upset," John said sarcastically watching the child laugh and splash in the waves. A particularly large wave came by and knocked the boy head-over-heels. When the wave retreated the child was face first in the wet sand. He slowly pushed himself up from the ground.

Instead of crying, which is definitely what John knew _he'd_ be doing in that situation, the kid clapped his hands together and began laughing. John shook his head amazed. "What a crazy little sea monkey."

 

* * *

 

Rebecca raced to the shore, only slowing down when she got within eyesight of the little boy. _The last thing I need is to frighten him_.

She approached him slowly, "Hey baby," she cooed.

He stopped playing with the waves and looked up at her. He was such a cute little thing too with all that black hair and those blue eyes. His skin, though, looked a little blue. Was the water that cold? His lips weren't blue.

He murmured something Rebecca didn't quite catch. "What babe, I couldn't hear you," she said softly.

" _Etu ra maru_?" the little kid stared up at her, his big innocent eyes searching.

"Where are your parents?" Rebecca asked, not understanding what the kid was saying. Maybe he'd be able to answer a different question.

" _Etu ra maru? Ma nom ces Ronan_ ," he spoke unblinking.

 _What is he saying? He definitely doesn't speak any language I understand. Which rules out English_. She thought, laughing at her own lack of knowledge when it came to other languages.

This language barrier did pose a small problem. How was she supposed to know what he told her? She gave him a questioning look.

The little boy walked up to her just as cautiously as she had walked up to him. He grabbed her hand. Rebecca crouched down so she was eye level with him. She looked him over. There were faint flecks of blue in his hair when the sun hit it. And now that he was out of the water his skin didn't look so blue anymore. With his other hand the boy pointed to himself.

" _Ma nom ces_ Ronan," he then pointed at her and said. " _Qui ces maro_ nom?"

Nahm?" she questioned. _What could that mean… think, think. Nam, nam, nam…_ "Name!"

So his name was Ronan.

"I'm Rebecca," she smiled down at the little boy. He gave her a confused look. "Umm," _what had he said?_ "Mahroo nam sess… Rebecca?"

She hoped that was right.

Apparently it was because the child broke into a huge grin. He jumped up and hugged her. " _Imara_ ," he cried not letting her go. She laughed at the clingy-ness of the boy. She didn't have a clue what he had said to her, but figured if a hug was involved, it couldn't be that bad. Unless, of course, he was actually trying to strangle her. Which was quite possible with how tight he was squeezing;

She hugged him back and chuckled again; He laughter died down when she realized the boy was crying. His eyes burning an angry shade of red.

" _Imana_ ," he sniffled rubbing his cheek against her, " _tu nor pasa mo tux."_

Rebecca didn't know what to do with the sobbing child, so she just waited there comforting him until his sobs subsided. When the boy's crying finally ceased, he let go of Rebecca and gave her a sheepish grin.

Rebecca looked at him and gently grabbed his hand, "Ronan, do you want to come home with me?" Perplexed, the boy just looked up at her with large questioning eyes. Rebecca carefully took a step back still holding his hand. He followed. They walked until they were almost off the beach.

" _Imara, zech_!" Ronan yanked his hand from hers and ran toward the ocean a few steps.

" _Barta Oceana_ ," he giggles, waving goodbye to the ocean. " _Opt, maruta yemaht, Imara_ ," Ronan said happily running back to Rebecca and grabbing her outstretched hand.

When they arrived at the hotel Rebecca picked up the little boy and carried him up to the room her and John shared.

All the way up to the top floor… of the three story building. Rebecca opened the door and set the child down, closing the door behind them.

" _Imara, qui ces loot_?" Ronan's voice was a mix of fear and fascination when looking at the strange room.

John strode over, "I saw you coming from…" he pointed out the window.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, so what's his story?"

"Um… Can I get back to you on that one?" Rebecca asked with a nervous laugh.

"What do you mean?" John shouted. "You can't just take a kid!"

"Well, he doesn't exactly-"

 _"Gamara! Maru ra ma Gamara_?"

"What the hell kind of language is _that_?" John exclaimed taken aback.

Rebecca just shrugged.

"Can we take him back to Pennsylvania with us?" she pleaded.

"Well," John scratched the back of his head, apparently, deep in thought, "we can't very well leave the little sea monkey here, now, can we?" He smiled when he saw the huge grin on Rebecca's face.

"You hear that, Ronan, you're gonna live with us from now on."

" _Mishcala._ "

 

_Present Day_

Rebecca then continued to tell Ronan more. She told him a few days later his father had come and visited them. Told them what he was. And that saltwater would change him back so they kept him out of it. Apparently the older he was, the more likely it was that the water would change him back, pr something like that. And the language he was speaking… the language the mers spoke.

"Please forgive me for not telling you sooner," Rebecca finished desperately.

Ronan swallowed thickly. That had been a lot to tale in. He was about to tell Rebecca that he'd forgive her, he understood why she did it, when he doubled over.

He felt weird. His legs were tingly and weak. "Mom, I think I need to get to the water now!" he said urgently. Tiburon had said he had a few hours. His time as a human must have been coming to an end.

"We'll get you back to the hotel. Tiburon's waiting there," she helped him to the car and headed back to their hotel.

On the way she called John, " I need you down stairs pronto. He's starting to change. We need to get him down to the water!" she hesitated, then added, "bring the fish."


	18. Chapter 18

John and Rebecca stumbled down to the water practically dragging Ronan between them. His movements had become sluggish with the approach of his transformation. Already his fingers had become webbed and scales had started to emerge on what was visible of his arms. They quickened the pace when Ronan's breathing became labored and ended up running straight into the ocean with him when they finally reached it. John and Rebecca let go of their son and watched as he sunk down in the shallow water, submerging himself with a sigh of relief. He felt much better in the water. And John felt much better now that he wasn't juggling his twenty-two year old son and the little fish bowl that Rebecca had insisted he bring.

Ronan quickly shucked off his shirt and forced himself to stand up out of the water and face his parents. They were looking at him with a mix of complete love and a disbelieving awe.

He really was a beautiful boy. All that pale skin was highlighted by shimmering lapis-lazuli scales that morphed into a pearly white before they merged into his skin. Unlike when he was forced to change, the transition from skin to scales was flawless. And his eyes danced with a vibrancy that had been missing since he first started to become a mer.

He looked young, vibrant and happy and they knew that he would be leaving them forever. Most parents expected their children to move when they were around Ronan's age. But… he wasn't moving. They wouldn't get any visits from him. They wouldn't be able to visit him. Or call him on the phone. Or text. Nothing. They would go from living with their son to absolutely no contact. And it absolutely broke their hearts.

Ronan saw his mother trying to choke back the sob that was threatening to escape and quickly enveloped her into a hug. He tried to think of something to say to the woman who had raised him. Who loved him and kept him safe for most of his life, but everything he thought to say just didn't do his feelings justice.

He ended out sputtering out a barely audible, "I love you mom," before backing away from the woman. He looked to his dad and they shared a meaningful look. A look that said more than any words that would have been spoken. And last he looked to Fisk. He hadn't know the little guy long but he'd miss him. The fish gave him a watery smile and flipped in his bowl.

" _Rasha_."

Ronan backed into the water until he was waist deep in the wonderfully salty liquid. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked to see Tiburon smiling at him. "It's time," is all the mer said to him before moving his hands to Ronan's waist, more specifically, to the hem of Ronan's pants. The innocent act felt unbelievably sensual to Ronan and he found himself wishing that Tiburon would continue the delicate touches to his side.

"May I?" the mer asked breathily into Ronan's ear. When Ronan nodded his consent Tiburon slowly began to slip the man's pants and underwear off so he would be able to complete his transformation.

It felt weird. That was the only way Ronan could think to describe it. His legs were tingling all over, the same way they did when they fell asleep. And the next thing he knew, he had a tail. A beautiful blue tail with a long graceful caudal fin. He naturally began to tread water to keep himself afloat and marveled at how quickly he seemed to adapt to having a tail.

It just felt so right. So natural to be like this in the water with Tiburon close to him, offering little touches of support and coos of encouragement. Ronan leaned back into the strong body behind him, content. At least he wouldn't be alone down there.

"Ooh, Ronan's got a boyfriend!" Fisk taunted causing Ronan to turn a beat red and Tiburon to laugh.

The lighthearted atmosphere was absolutely shattered by a gruff voice yelling, "You're not getting away from _me_ mer!"

Everyone looked up startled by the familiar voice. And, sure enough, the fisherman was hobbling down the beach, face almost unrecognizable because of the bruises and swelling. He was carrying what looked to be a harpoon gun.

"How the _fuck_ is he still alive?" John hissed. While he was relieved to know he hadn't become a murderer for the scumball, he still couldn't figure how it was remotely possible that the guy survived the harsh shovel beating that John had so nicely bestowed upon him

Following the fisherman were some very some guys in suits. Rebecca would bet money that they were members of the government. They screamed secret operation. Her heart skipped a beat. _What if they took Ronan away_?

What if they took him and locked him up and ran all kinds of horrible tests on him?

And then the fisherman took his harpoon gun and pointed directly at Ronan.

She ran a few paces towards her son to protect him from this evil man and screeched, "You dick! Stay away from my son."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," a powerful voice boomed causing everyone to turn and look at the speaker.

Ronan stared, eyes wide, at the new mer. It was clear, without any doubt, that this man was his father. He looked just like Ronan… or actually, Ronan looked just like him, only about twenty years younger.

The man had the same scales and hair, although his was long and decorated with shells and bits of coral, pulled back out of his face by a strand of seaweed. And stretched out defensively in the man's hands was, Ronan rolled his eyes, how typical, a trident. It was a magnificent deadly weapon that honestly looked to be made out of a mixture of platinum and glass.

Without any hesitation the man pointed the weapon at the slack jawed fisherman and sent a blast of electricity toward the fisherman. He fell to the ground. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that the fisherman was dead.

But that didn't change the suits. They were still there and continued to the edge of the water and stood near Rebecca and John. The trident was now fixed upon the men in suits. "I thought we agreed many years ago that it would be best if we left each other alone," the mer growled dangerously low.

"Yes, your majesty!" one of the suited men fumbled over his words, "We were coming to put a stop to the man but the situation escalated out of our control." He looked very much like a scolded child.

"So, he was not with you?" the powerful mer asked.

"No, he was working alone," the suit confirmed.

"Good. Leave us be," he said in a clear dismissal. The suits bowed in respect to Ronan's father, and then Ronan, and quickly left the beach.

"Did I miss something?" Ronan was the first to break the silence. "Why did I just get bowed to?"

"Somebody just had a harpoon gun pointed at you, and you choose to question the bowing?" John asked incredulously.

"Yeah?"

John snorted. That was so like Ronan.

"Would you like to explain, _your majesty_?" Ronan's mother asked of his biological father.

"There's not much to tell," the mer began with a shrug. "I'm your father and the mer king."

"So… I'm a prince?" Ronan asked slowly.

"Yes."

"No fucking way!" Ronan exclaimed. He looked behind him to see Tiburon smirking. "You _knew_ about this!" he accused hitting the mer in the shoulder.

"Yes," the mer admitted.

"I did too!" Fisk chimed in happily.

Ronan shot him a quick glare before turning his attention to Tiburon. He was just about to lay into the man when the mer king defended Tiburon. "I'm sure Tiburon would have told you in a heartbeat if I didn't ask him not to. I didn't think you were ready to know so much."

The three mers looked to the shore when the soft voice of Rebecca stated. "You're his _real_ family," while looking at the mer with awe and perhaps a little bit of jealousy in her eyes.

And to Ronan's surprise the man shook his head. "I'm his father by blood, yes, but I didn't _raise_ him. You are his family, forever and always. I have yet to earn that title."

Rebecca's eyes teared up at the mer's straightforward words, and soon tears were slowly making their way down her face. John wrapped his free arm comfortingly around his wife's shoulder and turned to the king. "Take care of him."

He looked to Ronan who was still in Tiburon's arms. The king answered with a mischievous glint in his eyes, "I think that job might already be taken by another mer," both Ronan's and Tiburon's faces heated up and Rebecca and John laughed, "But I'll keep him out of trouble," the king promised.

The mers started to pull back and Ronan knew it was time to join them in his new home under the sea. "Bye, mom, dad, I'll miss you," he managed to choke out around the emotional lump in his throat.

"Ronan Séwell, you better visit me!" his mother yelled to him.

John added, "Bring your fish friend with you. This better not be the last time I see you, sea monkey." They all knew that it was probably indeed the last time they would see each other. Mers weren't meant to have legs. But still, Ronan nodded.

Rebecca ran into the water after her son. John caught up to her a few seconds later and enveloped her into an awkward one armed hug, holding her as she cried and pinched his chest in grief.

Ronan shook out of Tiburon's grasp, "I'll be right back," he said quickly before swimming up to the two people that raised him. Water bubbled around him and he found himself being lifted by the water (probably the mer king's doing) until he was the same height as his parents. And he quickly embraced them.

He pulled back from the hug. "I'll see you soon," he promised the three of them.

They watched as he swam out to Tiburon and the mer king. Tiburon took his hand, said something that made their son blush a dark crimson, and kissed Ronan passionately.

Ronan heard Fisk make some kind of smart comment and then John muttered, "I don't think that one was to _heal_ him."

Rebecca choked out a laugh and watched as the three mers disappeared together off into the sea.

_Fin_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, for whatever reason, it won't let me put that this is chapter 18/18. So this is the end! Hope you enjoyed reading it.


	19. Language of the Mers

Arn- yes

Arta- where

Barta- bye

  
Certo- when

Ces- is

Ceva- come

Do- can

Eemouttyo- orphan

Etu- who

Ex- it

Eyalo- why

  
Gamara- father

Garmot- bastard

Hasha- breathe

Hatra- lucky

Imara- mother

Kamarta- understand

Kita- stop

  
Larna- hello

Larzingat- hell

Len- I

Lio- child

Lom- magic

Lomis- spell

Loot- this

  
Ma- my

Marreno- sea

Maru- you

  
Marum- your

  
Maruta- us

Merlao- merman

Merleo- mermaid

Mishcala- family

  
Mo- me

Mura- move

Murata-  moving

Nom- name

N'ra- no

N'rat- not

Ocena- ocean

Opt- let

Ou- to

Pasa- leave

Planir- fish

Qui- what

Ra- are

Rasha- prince

Ratic- he

  
Retti- she

Ruhn- the

  
Ruht- that

Saasha- home

Sesch- good

Seschbarta- goodbye

Si- am

Sol- love

Sosorear- wizard

Tomessaht- shark

Tu- do

  
Tux-again

Xi- part

  
Yemaht- go

Ye- so  
Zech- wait

Zei- land

Zeimer- human

Zeimerlao- man

  
Zeimerleo- woman   
  
  


  



End file.
